LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap© V Copyright No 

Shelf_iXh£. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




A Spiritual Tour 

OF THE 

World 



IN SEARCH OF THE LINE OF LIFE'S 
EVOLUTION 

y" 

Otto A. De La Camp 



'Whatever is truly beautiful 
The same is beautifully true" 



•#nr<rve 



IJUM 



BOSTON 

Arena Publishing Company 
copley square 



'in'.'* S - <*^- > 



1* 



Copyright, 1896, 
By OTTO A. De La CAMP. 



All rights reserved. 



ARENA PRESS. 



PREFACE. 



This book comes into the world in a manner 
somewhat resembling that of all children : it felt 
attracted, and here it is, anxious to be recognized 
and welcomed by all whose sympathies it can 
excite. 

It is designed to appeal to those who are inter- 
ested in studies concerning the spiritual motive 
of our Universe and the nature of our destiny. 

Though this book may not bring any knowledge 
that has heretofore been foreign to the minds of 
men, it endeavors to unite some of that which 
is already ours into a picture both truthful and 
pleasing to the eye of the soul. 

The sign of Truth being Simplicity, the author 
has made it his special object to evolve this 
" mind-picture " of the Universal Life by the very 
simplest means within his reach, so that it may 



iv PREFACE. 

reflect itself with clearness as a well-founded and 
well-connected thought-form into the mind of him 
who reads. Succeeding in the accomplishment 
of this object the author hopes that this little 
work will not be refused its modest part in the 
promotion of our spiritual enlightenment and 
well-being. 

Sincerely, 

THE AUTHOR. 
February, 1 896. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAGB. 

Preface, iii 

Introduction, vii 

I. The World's Fundamental Principles: 

Space, Substance, and Motion, - - i 

II. Time, n 

III. Diversification of the Elements; the 

World's System, 18 

IV. Establishment of Organized Life, - - 25 

V. Nature of the Primitive Organisms; Con- 
dition of the Earth's Surface at the 

Time of their First Appearance, - - 32 

VI. Plant-life, 40 

VII. Development of the Animal Body, - - 46 

VIII. Life of the Animal Soul, 54 

IX. Formation and Nature of the Human 

Body, 68 

X. Constitution of the Human Soul; Ori- 
gin of the Races, 77 

XL Unfoldment of the Human Soul in the 

Life of the Community, - - - - 85 

XII. Fate, with Regard to Plant and Animal, 96 



Vi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER. PAGE. 

XIII. Variety of Fates and Characters on 

the Human Plane, 104 

XIV. The Reason for our Sufferings; our 

Relation to the Evil, - - - 117 

XV. Leading to an Explanation of the Ine- 
quality of our Fates, .... 133 

XVI. The Soul's Immortality and Necessity 

for Re-appearance on Earth, - - - 143 

XVII. Conditions governing Re -appearance; 

Evolution beyond the Human Plane, - 154 

XVIII. Concerning the Higher Form of Life 

and the Way in which it is Attained, 162 

XIX. Our Relation to the World of the 

Disembodied and to One Another, - 180 

Closing Remarks, 202 



INTRODUCTION. 



You will agree with me, Kind Reader, when I 
say that our well-being, both individually and col- 
lectively, is largely dependent upon our concep- 
tions of the world in which we live. 

We, like all other creatures, being destined to 
seek and to find our salvation through our own 
efforts, thus naturally have an interest in the man- 
ner in which these conceptions are evolved : we are 
anxious that the comfort which they are to give 
be not merely temporary, but lasting ; and to this 
end, they must, of course, be children of the 
Truth. 

Where is the Truth ? It is to be found every- 
where within the reach of him whose eye can see 
it. We approach it by the simultaneous motion 
of body and soul : while the body with its senses 
moves around, taking note of exterior qualities, or 
the appearance of things, the soul proceeds to 
travel through, for contact with their inner nature, 
their reality ; and neither of them permits the 
other a final rest. Each point reached by the 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

senses of the body attracts the soul, the ceaseless 
questioner, with the result that our contemplated 
period of rest unexpectedly gives place to an 
interrogation ; and this must, by its nature, urge 
us forever onward. Thus we continue everlasting 
wanderers through the Universe, consciously or 
unconsciously searching for a glimpse of Truth. 

The experience, the knowledge, which we 
acquire on our way, will be gratifying to us in 
accordance with the nature of our observation. 
We, who desire above all things to behold life and 
well-being, can, of course, feel firmly established 
in a condition of serene contentment only when 
our experiences have generated within us the con- 
ception that this desired life and happiness is the 
ultimate fate of all beings. When this conception 
becomes inseparable from our inner life, we shall 
feel that our travels and attention have not been 
in vain. 

Now, we perceive that this World may be 
searched for its Truth with reference both to its 
personality, and the motive which causes it. The 
personality, we find, shows us the perishable, and 
that alone ; for it consists in nothing else. There- 
fore this cannot be the final object of our study. 
If we would know what lives beyond the personal, 
we must, of course, search beyond the same for 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

that which has moved it to come forth and causes 
it again to disappear ; we must study the motive 
power. How ? By rising out of the personal into 
the Universal and identifying ourselves with the 
Universal character. There alone is to be found 
the motive which we are in search of ; and in pro- 
portion as we succeed in imbuing our senses with 
this character will they be able to see that which 
controls our life and happiness. 

As our studies always consist in individual 
effort, we can never lose the benefit which they 
bring us. We know that a view of the World 
from the personal standpoint, being our first pro- 
ceeding, is pleasurable so long as we have not yet 
fully awakened to the sense of the perishable 
nature which belongs to the affairs of this life. 
When we have arrived at the perfect understand- 
ing of their true character, then we begin to feel 
the necessity of rising into the higher knowledge. 
This proceeding we find, however, attended with 
rather more difficulty, more painful effort, than 
the former. But, in all justice, the reward is in 
proportion greater; for it brings us the true con- 
ceptions which alone can permanently satisfy. 

Therefore, we make this greater effort ; and 
when it can be done in company, it will be so 
much the more enjoyable to each. You are 



X INTRODUCTION. 

aware, Kind Reader, that this is my intention at 
the present moment ; and if it is likewise your 
good fortune and desire, for the time being, to 
enjoy a short freedom from the world of personal 
cares and pleasures, I would propose that we 
attempt such a spiritual tour of the World in 
company. I promise that the same shall be as 
agreeable as I can make it, and that no feeling of 
disappointment shall come to you other than such 
as may arise from the discovery that the regions 
traversed are already familiar to your mind. This, 
you will admit, could not be helped ; for, may one 
find anywhere in this World a view which some 
eye has not seen before ? But we find pleasure 
in returning even to familiar earthly scenes so 
long as they accord with our taste. If this is 
true with regard to the material, how much more 
must it apply to the spiritual ! Let us then in 
good faith proceed : — 



CHAPTER I. 

THE WORLD'S FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES : 
SPACE, SUBSTANCE, AND MOTION. 

As we have already observed, the tour which 
we are to undertake is twofold : while our per- 
sonality moves around the objects, the soul is 
to penetrate their surfa.ce and view them from 
within. We desire to discover the motive of life, 
the heart of the Universe ; and the only way in 
which this may be done, is by observing how the 
Universe unfolds its life out of the first princi- 
ples, and how it then proceeds in the course of 
its further evolution. Having, to this end, left 
behind us the sphere of our own personality, we 
are duly prepared for entrance into this greater 
one, the Universal, which comprises them all. 

Let us, then, make our first move : We will 
proceed to a point somewhere in close proximity 
to our own planet, the Earth. What is now the 
first to attract our attention ? It cannot be our 
person, the one in the midst of the many ; nor 
can it be any beauty of surroundings. The first 



2 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

now to appear to us must be that which is most 
simple, most generally represented ; it must be a 
fundamental feature of the World. So, in look- 
ing about, upon the Earth, its waters, and the 
surrounding heavens, we perceive, before all else, 
the bare existence of Space, Substance, and 
Motion. To the eye of the person this is, of 
course, a rather dry observation to begin with, 
but not so to us in our present attitude. The 
World's secret that we are searching must neces- 
sarily be anchored at the World's foundation ; 
and therefore these three principles are the first 
objects to attract our attention. 

We observe that they make their appearance 
simultaneously, and the reason for this is that 
each of them would be non-existent without the 
other two. A space implies motion : a point 
must move to form a length ; the motion of this 
length creates the width ; this, in turn, proceeds 
to form the third dimension, height. Also is 
implied in a space the coexistence of a substance ; 
for, in order to be perceptible, a space must either 
be filled or be surrounded by the same ; other- 
wise it can in no sense even have existence. 
Substance requires its volume of space as gener- 
ated by aforesaid motion. And, lastly, we see 
that Motion cannot be without the necessary 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 3 

space and the moving object, distinguishable from 
its surroundings. Here, again, is required the 
presence of Substance, however fine this may be, 
and though it be no more than the substance of 
mere thought. Thus, wherever we look, we find 
these three principles simultaneously present, an 
harmonious trio at the World's foundation. 

Let us now look into their interior and see 
them in their inner nature, their reality. Here 
we encounter the first unavoidable test of our 
independent soul-power. The nature of the Uni- 
verse, like that of music, is comprehensible by 
way only of our own inner power of perception. 
The personal sense perceives the arrangement; 
the meaning is discernible only to the higher 
sense, the impersonal, the universal. That which 
we perceive at the foundation applies, of course, 
to the whole structure ; and, therefore, whatever 
we may learn respecting the nature of Space, 
Substance, and Motion is really a necessary part 
of our knowledge if we would properly expand our 
views of the world of life which is evolved from 
these three principles. 

We will, then, go nearer to the Earth and pick 
for our investigation some smaller object: here, 
this cocoanut ; — what is its size, the space which 
it occupies ? We compare the same with some- 



4 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

thing smaller, for instance, its kernel. Then we 
look in the opposite direction for something 
larger. Thus we determine its relative, or appar- 
ent size. Now we want to measure its absolute 
extent as it is to be discerned from the universal 
point of view. To this end, we must find the 
smallest unit and also the limits of the whole of 
which it is a part. The inch and foot measure- 
ment cannot help us here. We retire once more 
into the interior of our cocoanut, towards its cen- 
ter. Here we begin looking for the smallest 
point, the unit. We magnify our power of vision. 
We find, that what at first seemed the very 
center-point, now proves to be a little sphere 
surrounding a center, which, before, we had not 
noticed. We look still more sharply and discover 
within this second a third. We see that we 
might continue thus forever, magnifying our 
power and discovering new center-points, each 
containing within itself one that is still smaller. 
We cannot find the particle which is next in size 
to nothing, and must conclude that it lies in the 
realm of the Infinite. Now we will come out of 
our cocoanut and proceed once more in the 
other direction : no sphere is so large that it may 
not be surrounded by one still larger. The limits 
of the whole must likewise be in the Infinite. 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 5 

Where is this Infinite which contains the 
universal measurement of Space ? From our per- 
sonal point of view it is certainly beyond our 
reach. We will search for it through the uni- 
versal eye. Our first view showed us the ever- 
present harmony between Space, Substance, and 
Motion. For instance, the form of a cube is 
wanted : In order to effect its creation, necessity 
calls for a point, a line, and a plane, specify- 
ing certain limits and directions of motion, — a 
demand which is always perfectly defined in all 
respects. It is responded to. The cube is now 
to be made in a certain proportion larger : point, 
line, and plane come forth and form it. We see, 
that, wherever a demand of necessity is thus 
clearly defined, there is a power present which 
fulfills it. Certainly, this power must be equally 
as definite in character, or it would not create 
with such precision. Looking about us, we find 
that it never fails, and thus we must acknowledge 
that there cannot possibly be any other power in 
existence. It is the undisputed regulator at the 
World's foundation, and, in accordance with its char- 
acter, there must come forth from it a definite 
World. Whatever is to be cannot come into being 
in any other way than by the will of this one power, 
which we thus recognize as the supreme Law. 



6 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

Supposing a form of indefinite proportions were 
wanted : could it come into existence ? Law, 
which is always definite in its perception and 
power of execution, can, of course, respond to 
such demands only as it clearly perceives. Now, 
here we have one which is not defined and not 
clearly perceptible. The Law finds nothing to 
which it may conform its will, and leaves this 
form uncreated to remain in the sphere of the 
impossible. Thus we observe how the undefined 
is hindered from existence by the world of the 
definite so long as the character of the former 
remains undecided. 

This very nature we have discovered to be the 
attribute of the Infinite itself. Therefore we 
may know that this Infinite does certainly not 
exist as a reality in this Universe. But may it 
not surround the same ? We must conclude that 
this would always require the existence of Space ; 
and wherever we find its attribute, extent, there 
we also find Law, which is ever the same, and 
which gives to this space, according to its nature, 
definite form. Go where we will, — everywhere 
and forever exists the definite. The Infinite is 
not there, and no eternal process of any kind can 
bring it forth : it is fatherless ; and the ever pres- 
ent Law, not recognizing it even in the idea, 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 7 

can give it no form. So the Infinite can never 
trouble us. But it also leaves us without our 
desired discovery of the smallest and the largest 
sphere ; and thus we unexpectedly become aware 
of the truth that there is no actual measurement 
for Space, no Law of actual size : Space, in the 
absolute, is sizeless. 

However, we may know that an actual size is 
not needed. Why not ? Because the absence of 
necessity is proven by the absence of Law. Let 
us demonstrate this : If actual size is not needed, 
it must be possible, for instance, that our whole 
solar system, in all the relative proportions of its 
parts, be made manifest within the space occupied 
by this nut. Can Law establish these manifold 
proportions within so small a sphere ? Yes : and 
we may also continue reducing, and at the same 
time adding as many more solar systems as we 
wish, forever, without reaching that smallness of 
point which they are capable of occupying in their 
exact relative dimensions. No sphere is so small, 
and at the same time none so great, in which Law 
cannot maintain them just as we see them existing 
around us ; for, whatever part of Space may be chos- 
en, — so long as that part is a space, it will always 
admit of an infinite number and variety of divisions. 

Supposing we, together with all existing pro- 



8 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

portions, were demonstrated within a sphere so 
near in its extent to nothing as to form but an 
idea of space, — would anything reveal itself as 
wanting in its present, well-adjusted size ? Again, 
supposing all proportions were established on the 
largest scale conceivable, — could we perceive a 
difference ? By no means. Thus we find that 
Law is in all its demonstrations independent of a 
specified absolute extent. No being can ever 
have cognizance of an actual dimension, and there- 
fore none experiences the want of any. It lies 
not in the logic of Law to bring forth what is not 
demanded by necessity ; and, there being no such 
call upon Law in this case, Space does not assume 
in any of its parts the character of actually limited 
extent. This means that it remains undefined in 
every part, infinite throughout ; and therefore we 
know that it is barred from actual existence. The 
sole reality represented in it is : demonstration of 
relationships between parts. Thus we find Space 
to be merely an idea ; it expresses the Law of 
relative proportions, and nothing else. We find 
it here, there, everywhere ; for a well-defined idea, 
demonstrative in any dimension, must fill out 
with its being all existence. And yet, it lives not 
in locality; for there is none but the imaginary 
which is embraced in this idea. 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 9 

What do we gain by this discovery ? Let us 
apply its truth in our study of this cocoanut : The 
size of the nut, as we have now seen, is an ideal 
one ; the space which it occupies is merely a 
demonstration of proportion to other dimensions. 
What, now, is its substance? This, we know, 
cannot exist outside of this imaginary and only 
Space. An ideal Space can contain no actual 
Substance. We must, therefore, conclude that 
this nut, as well as everything else which has the 
character of Substance, is as ideal as the Space 
which it occupies, — that there is not an atom of 
actually rigid Substance in the Universe : As we 
recognize in Space the demonstration of the Law 
of relationships between ideal dimensions, so we 
find Substance to be the demonstration of the Law 
governing their proportionate impenetrability, or 
density. 

Now we throw the nut away and observe how 
it moves through Space. As we see it go, we 
feel assured that there is no power which can 
ever take this bit of substance from the Uni- 
verse ; for, without its Space, motion is impossible. 
But, at the same time, considering the nature of 
this Space, we see that Motion, like Substance, 
constitutes in the absolute but an idea. Being 
the third in this fundamental trio, it represents 



IO A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

the Law which regulates the changes of position 
between the other two. 

Thus we have succeeded in obtaining a view of 
all three principles as they appear in the universal 
sense, and therewith we have discovered the nature 
of all that is evolved from them. We now recog- 
nize the Universe in its true character as being 
the great idea of ideas, filling out all existence by 
virtue of this trio of harmonious principles. And 
in that which maintains this ever present harmony 
at the World's foundation we have sensed the 
presence of a Universal Spirit. 



CHAPTER II. 



While our eye thus views the world of demon- 
strations as concentrated into the one ideal and 
omnipresent point called "here," we become cog- 
nizant also of another essential : the uninter- 
rupted existence of the "now." Is this likewise 
an extent, or, as it were, another feature of 
Space ? Let us examine it : As we have seen, 
the dimension known as length owes its being to 
the spiritual motion of a point. However quick 
this motion may be, we know that it takes place, 
or there would not come forth the idea of lineal 
extent. The World is thus filled with straight 
and curved motions. But we perceive also 
another variety : the degrees of velocity. And 
this is the one which suggests to us the idea of 
the feature called " Time." 

We measure Time as we measure Space, that 
is, we take note of its relative extent. And, as 
a space appears large or small, according to the 



12 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

closeness of attention bestowed upon the same; 
so an extent of time will seem to us long or short ; 
long, when our power of perception is directed 
away from the events to the line of their succes- 
sion ; short, when our interest is confined to the 
events themselves. The marking of Time by 
comparing the motion of the pendulum with those 
of the minute- and hour-hand is our measurement 
of relative duration. The absolute must be 
sought by way of comparing the shortest interval 
with the longest. We will first look for the 
shortest, the unit of Time. This we know to be 
that part which is marked by the shortest event, 
the quickest vibration. So we proceed from 
those executed by the pendulum to measure those 
of sound. We find the much quicker vibrations 
of heat, light, electricity. Finally we are led to 
conceive of those originated by thought. These 
latter are, of course, the quickest of which we can 
have any knowledge. Now, the realm of thought 
extends through the whole World as direct spirit- 
ual vibration, and we can understand that the 
finer and more intricate a thought, the faster must 
be the vibrations living in the same. But we also 
conceive of the truth that no thought can possibly 
be so fine, so elevated, so active, as not to admit 
of one that is still more so : the quickest vibration 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 3 

is impossible to be found, and will ever remain 
in the realm of the Infinite. 

We now proceed in the other direction. Here 
we follow the slower vibrations, the revolutions of 
the heavenly bodies ; the Earth, the Sun, the 
clusters of Suns, and so on, beyond conception : 
the longest interval is likewise an impossibility. 
Finding no limit in either direction, we are thus 
convinced that Time is really but a feature of 
Space, a fourth dimension, and consequently of 
the like ideal nature. We may see in it the dem- 
onstration of the Law which governs the relations 
between the various degrees of velocity of motion. 

We assured ourselves before, that the other 
three dimensions of Space have no actual, that is, 
rigid existence, by demonstrating the absence of 
necessity. Now we must be able to proceed in 
like manner with regard to the fourth feature, 
Time. Let us see : If a specified or actual extent 
of Time is not needed, it must be possible for all 
the proportions existing between the intervals of 
which it consists, to manifest themselves unal- 
tered within any space of time that may be 
specified. For instance, the events of an hour 
must be contractible in their right proportion to 
each other into the space of what we now call a 
second. This is possible, and their duration as a 



14 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

whole may be reduced still more. In fact, there 
is no moment so short that it may not contain 
them in the same relationship to one another as 
we perceive them to be in at present ; for, as we 
have seen before, there is no moment so small 
that it cannot be divided into an infinite number 
of others. At the same time, the amount of 
events thus contracted might be increased to that 
of a day, a year, and so on, — infinitely. "But 
we are not to become aware of the fact that a 
change has taken place." How could we, since 
our lives themselves remain confined in the midst 
of the line contracted ? As it would be impossi- 
ble for us to discover any deviation from actual 
size, if such existed ; so would it be beyond our 
power to perceive any contraction or expansion of 
an actual Time. 

Thus, the appearance of a space of time de- 
pends solely upon our own attitude towards the 
same ; a moment, in reality ever so short, may 
yet seem almost an eternity, and vice versa. 
Time being thus elastic in appearance, no matter 
what actual length might be assigned to it, — 
why, then, should Law institute a rigid moment ? 
There is no call for one. The necessary must 
exist, the unnecessary is fatherless. Therefore, 
since the succession of events is merely a dem- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 5 

onstration of relative duration, without any dis- 
tinguishable actual extent, we see, that, in the 
Spirit, all the past and all the future are so infi- 
nitely concentrated into one point, as to be actu- 
ally contemporaneous. Our personality can, of 
course, never comprehend aught but succession of 
events, durations that are apparently real ; but in 
the Spirit, Time is all one moment, an inevitable 
and consequently indestructible once, in which 
is contained simultaneously everything that is 
possible of existence through the power of Law. 
Can we imagine that any one of the Spirit's dic- 
tates has ever not existed and not been instantly 
fulfilled ? We see, for instance, that when a 
combination is formed of certain values, or num- 
bers, the total value, or end result, has its exist- 
ence simultaneous with that formation. It is our 
person only which has to go through the process 
of tracing the relationships between these num- 
bers from one stage to the other before the exist- 
ence of the ultimate becomes apparent to us. 
And there is never more than one result possible ; 
for the Spirit's character, its Law, is ever clearly 
denned throughout, and therefore admits of no 
choice. On looking about, we find that there is 
no exceptional event anywhere, none which can 
not be traced from cause to cause as being the 



1 6 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

necessary and only possible result of the Spirit's 
dictates. 

Thus we become aware, that, as the events of 
all times are contained within the Spirit simultan- 
eously with its own existence, and consequently also 
with one another, each of them must necessarily 
be visible at any time to the eye of the imper- 
sonal observer. Is this manner of observation 
a possibility to individual senses ? We must 
acknowledge that it is ; for we know that a per- 
son's desire and powers of perception may at times 
be lifted entirely out of the ordinary sphere of the 
personality. Being thus hindered from acting in 
their own interest, they will thereby not be con- 
fined in idleness, but will be forced to operate in 
the world of personalities surrounding. There 
being to the senses thus liberated neither an 
actual distance between objects, nor an actual 
interval between events, all past, "present, and 
future things of any locality will become discerni- 
ble with equal clearness ; and the senses will take 
note of all that towards which they are directed, 
perceiving in accordance with their individual 
ability and character. The fine thread of personal 
consciousness by which their connection with the 
body is maintained, is just sufficient for enabling 
them to impart their discoveries to the descriptive 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. I J 

faculties of the person, and through this to the 
outer world. These are the essentials to the 
mysterious process known to us as clairvoyance, 
clairaudience, — constituting the gift of prophecy. 
And the more we contemplate the fact that indi- 
vidual powers of perception do occasionally in this 
manner reach beyond the sphere of the person- 
ality, discovering with equal facility things near 
and distant, past and future, the more strongly 
shall we feel impressed with the truth that our 
World is purely spiritual, ideal. Likewise does 
the conviction grow upon us, that our Universe is 
not brought into existence and maintained through 
the united action of various ideas, or Spirits, 
coming from independent sources, but that all is 
the perpetual unfoldment of one uniform idea, 
one character, well-defined in every particular, 
perfect, and therefore ever present, — One 
Almighty Spirit. 



CHAPTER III. 

DIVERSIFICATION OF THE ELEMENTS J THE 

world's SYSTEM. 

In the light of the knowledge which we have 
thus far obtained we are now qualified for pro- 
ceeding to observe our World more with regard to 
particulars. 

We have already found, while contemplating 
the character which lives in the three fundamental 
principles, Space, Substance, and Motion, that 
there never can have been a time when this World 
did not exist, and, likewise, that there can never 
come a time when it might be destroyed. For, 
character means will, preference of one thing to 
another. The Spirit, being so perfectly defined 
in all directions as to comprise all Time as its own 
idea, always was and always will be as it is. Its 
character prefers to demonstrate itself, to con- 
tinually unfold all the possibilities of its being; 
therefore we may know that Spirit and World are 
ever one and simultaneous. 

Now we look upon all the many things which 
constitute its life. What a variety is manifested 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 9 

in the moving Substance, from the most ethereal 
to the most impenetrable ! And what variety of 
motion and velocity ! — not a point anywhere 
which is not being traversed by some kind of 
matter in motion straight or curved, slow or fast. 
Surely, these three principles are inseparable 
under all conditions. 

All vibration, we find, is but the inner motion 
of the substance through which it passes ; more- 
over, the various kinds of matter, or rather 
Spirit-substance, must themselves be so many 
different modes of inner motion, or they could 
not be so susceptive to all the vibrations coming 
to them, and yet retain their individual characters 
throughout. We know, that, for instance, the 
vibrations which we recognize as heat are produced 
through friction of particles. These latter must 
be impelled to violent motion before the heat 
comes forth and informs us of the vibrations 
which are taking place. But does this imply that 
there is no inner motion when the substance is in 
a state which we call "low temperature"? The 
fact that we do not perceive a vibration does not 
prove that there is none present. If one degree 
of warmth is produced through inner motion of 
the substance, all other degrees must arise from 
the same cause. And where is the line between 



20 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

heat and cold ? It is only we who make such a 
distinction ; in the absolute there is none. There 
we find the scale of temperature uninterrupted by 
any dividing-point ; and thus we find that there 
really are degrees of one kind only, — degrees of 
vibration. And which is the lowest degree ; 
which the highest ? There is no limit in either 
direction ; and, as everything that exists must 
possess a certain temperature, we become aware 
that there is not a particle of substance which is 
not in a constant state of inner motion of its own, 
however slow this vibration may be, — it is never- 
theless present. 

We observe that these vibrations differ, not in 
respect to degree of velocity alone, but also with 
regard to their form as determined by the nature 
and condition of the vibrating substance. We 
find this fact illustrated, for instance, in a body of 
water : The inner motion of water may be 
regarded as being ordinarily of a kind somewhat 
circular ; for we notice that the particles have 
great facility for flowing, or rolling over one 
another. When their temperature becomes very 
low, so that crystallizations appear, we may know 
that their vibrations have not only become less 
active, but have also changed their form ; for the 
particles have ceased their flowing motion and 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 21 

now cohere more firmly in the form of ice. In 
the opposite direction, the speed of their vibrations 
may be increased until the friction between the 
particles becomes so powerful as to cause them to 
disperse in the form of steam. The vibrations of 
iron, for instance, must be different from those of 
water ; for their response to foreign vibrative power 
is not the same. This difference is perceptible 
even to our sense of touch ; the sensation produced 
by hot iron is very unlike that which is caused by 
water of the same temperature : the feeling which 
we experience on touching the iron is more acute ; 
therefore the vibrations of iron cannot be so 
smoothly round as are those of water. Thus, each 
kind of substance has its individual mode of 
inner motion by which it is distinguished from all 
the other kinds, in respect to both form and 
impenetrability ; and we may here even go so far 
as to conclude that the indestructibility of sub- 
stance is really nothing else than the exterior 
evidence of the immortality of the spiritual 
vibrative power within. 

We have thus acquired an idea of the manner 
in which the Spirit diversifies its substance and 
effects change of condition. We now observe the 
great centers of vibrative power, the Suns, which 
radiate their force in all directions, penetrating 



22 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

with their life the things surrounding ; and, from 
the planets to the smallest particles of ether, we 
find all motion, all life. 

An extensive view of this universal motion tells 
us that it is not a promiscuous motion, but that 
all is embraced in one great system which is 
brought forth through the principle of mutual 
attraction between parts. Each attracts the others 
according to its character and power, and the 
greatest, the Suns, form the common centers ; 
these, in turn, cluster around another ; this, again, 
moves around a third ; and so we might continue 
forever finding new centers of attraction. It is 
all a demonstration of close relationship between 
parts. That this power of attraction is ever 
present and almighty, is certain ; for, if substances 
were not impelled to exert themselves towards 
forming this general union, their continued motion 
would soon disperse them and thus dissolve the 
Universe. 

What causes this tendency of the parts to unite ? 
It can only be the affinity existing between their 
inner motions, their natures, proving them all to 
be of the same source and pervaded with the same 
Spirit. They are forced in a certain sense to 
perceive one another's presence, whether they be 
mere minute particles or great heavenly bodies ; 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 2$ 

and their effort at uniting shows that there exists 
between them a certain understanding, a degree 
of harmony. 

We find, however, that a permanent union 
between individual parts is nowhere permitted. 
Not a particle of water, for instance, may remain 
forever in its ocean. It must sometime come to 
the surface ; here its tiny spiral revolutions are 
joined by the kindred ones of the atmosphere, 
which bid it "come;" the ocean would have it 
stay, but the drop is already aroused to quicker 
motion, greater power, than that possessed by its 
fellows underneath ; and the same law through 
which it is enabled to exercise its character in 
individual motion, now bids it assert the same, — 
to rise out and " move." The Law gives it a sepa- 
rate mission. And who can follow, even in idea, 
the wanderings of this drop of water through 
all the foreign elements, until it is permitted 
to return into its own, — for a while ! So has 
the same Law, through instituting difference in 
degrees of power, given individuality, motion, sepa- 
ration, to the heavenly spheres. The Sun also 
says to the Earth, "come," and the Earth would 
fain unite, but the Law again says, " move." The 
Earth, too, has received its mission, and must 
wander until it is fulfilled. 



24 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

What is this mission ? We are aware that the 
Spirit does not stop in the unfoldment of its ideas 
with the demonstration of mere fundamental prin- 
ciples ; we see that it moves in them for further 
evolution, and that thus the World of heavenly 
bodies serves as its personality, or medium only, 
through which this object is to be accomplished. 
We perceive the Spirit's aim to be the demon- 
stration of Existence, Motion, Life ; and a glance 
over the surface of our Earth acquaints us with 
the unmistakable evidence that this is the great 
mission of the planet : the Evolution of Life. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF ORGANIZED LIFE. 

Let us now give our full attention to this 
sphere of many combinations of which our per- 
sonality is one. What a variety and abundance 
of living beings do we find around us ! -*— all chil- 
dren of the same Earth, formed of its substance 
and sustained by it. How did all this life originate ? 

We know that the Earth could not evolve a 
single creature without the help of the rays of 
light and warmth coming from the Sun. We 
become aware that in these we are to recognize 
the bearers of the life. But now the question 
occurs to us, " Why should life demand the exist- 
ence of the planets, when it already exists without 
them ? " We may find an answer : We know that 
a Law exists only where it acts, — where there is 
an object for its demonstration. For example, 
the Law which directs that twice two be four, 
exists only where this number of things is present. 
Where could it be without them ? This, of course, 
is only a very simple feature ; but we know that 



26 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

the character of the Spirit remains ever the same, 
pervading its smallest and its greatest features 
alike. The nature of one determines that of all : 
if one of them is dependent for its life upon 
demonstration, the others are likewise. Thus we 
see the great reason for the existence of this Uni- 
verse : the Spirit does not feel its existence other- 
wise than through the demonstration of its life in 
a personality. We, who are both of the Spirit 
and of its personality, may infer from this that the 
part of life which we represent in the Spirit would 
likewise be unconscious of itself, apparently non- 
existent, if it were not projected into a body of 
some kind of vibrating substance. Thus can the 
life which radiates from the Sun become apparent 
to itself and the World only where it enters 
the substance and conditions necessary for the 
demonstration of its character. In the light of 
this observation we are now cognizant of the 
spiritual cause of both Sun and planets. 

To explain the original, the innermost nature of 
this life, is, of course, impossible. It remains 
hidden to the personal senses, because it is of the 
Spirit ; and it cannot be denned by the spiritual, 
by reason of its being so axiomatic that an explan- 
ation is altogether unnecessary. We know that 
only the necessary can exist ; therefore we may 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 2J 

conclude that such an explanation will remain an 
impossibility forever. Life is as self-evident as 
the fact that a moving point forms a line. This 
also is inexplicable; but, this truth being so 
simple, the mere knowledge of the same is suffi- 
cient. Now, each of the Spirit's possibilities is 
such a point, a well-defined idea ; it continues, it 
moves, and the inexplicable, because self-evident, 
line of life is there. As the Spirit is present and in 
motion within all its particles of substance, so does 
it also direct the combinations which it forms of 
these. In every point it says, "I am." These 
demonstrations of relationship or contrast, as we 
know, constitute its life ; and when we consider 
also what constitutes its character, we shall see 
why its next step must be to appear in the various 
forms of living creatures. 

We understand that the Spirit's character, from 
its very foundation, is that of oneness, harmony. 
This attribute we have discovered while viewing 
the foundation of its World. And yet we per- 
ceive that all its combinations of mere matter are 
constantly dissolving one another, forming new 
ones, and that none remains by individual effort 
intact. Thus we see that matter alone can form 
no nucleus for further evolution. But evolution 
is the Spirit's object. Why? Because it is the 



28 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

only means by which relationship and contrast 
are brought forth. Now, evolution is possible 
through the medium only of superior harmony, 
organization. Thus we observe, that, in order to 
create a greater variety of contrast, more life, the 
Spirit reflects into the World more of its charac- 
ter of oneness. It establishes among its various 
combinations of substances harmonies that are 
more powerful, more enduring, than the rest, by 
means of organizing these harmonies and giving 
them individual being, so that each may remain 
clearly defined and distinct from all the others. 
The superior force through which it thus unites 
substance into organisms is, as we are already 
aware, evolved in the Sun, the centralization of 
vibrative power. Each ray, as it goes out from 
the Sun, is possessed of the higher form and 
degree of vibration which has been evolved from 
the union of all : it is thus the representative of 
a superior harmony. Reaching the Earth, the 
effect of these rays must be in accordance. Their 
vibrations are now, by virtue of their superior 
adaptability, enabled to enter the manifold combi- 
nations of inner motions which constitute the 
substance of the Earth. Harmonizing with each 
such combination separately, and steadily contin- 
uing their action upon it, these vibrations succeed 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 20, 

in giving rise within the same to that superior 
harmony of motion which we know as individual 
feeling, or soul. Thus we see how superior har- 
mony of vibration in substance forms a new kind 
of relationship, a further growth of existence 
through the establishment of greater contrast. 

Through organization of these various modes of 
vibration into one harmonious power their ten- 
dency to maintain themselves against foreign 
influences has become concentrated into one 
which has the strength of all combined. There 
is thus present, not only the greater power, but 
also the stronger desire, which arises from the 
evolution of mere vibrative force into feeling; 
and, thereby, the maintenance of the organism in 
the midst of the world of unorganized matter is 
doubly insured. The creature is enabled, not 
alone to resist the World surrounding it, but also 
to absorb from the same such substances as are 
required for continuance as an individual being. 
The same life-vibrations, which, through the heat 
which they produce, cause the constant emanation 
of the creature's substance, also give the creature 
the power to replenish the same, and more, — we 
see that the being reproduces itself. But how 
comes this ? Does it absorb more life-vibrations 
than it can hold, and, so to speak, overflow with 



30 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

life? This must certainly be the case. We 
know that the vibrations of substance without life, 
although they may change in effect, yet never 
cease. Therefore we may infer that those which 
bear the life must certainly be likewise imperish- 
able. Now, as these enter the being in profusion, 
it is plain that they must give way to one 
another; and so, eventually, they influence the 
creature to form, of its own substance, bodies of a 
nature similar to its own. In these young bodies 
they then issue forth as new organisms. 

Why does the Spirit institute this process ? 
Would not the same nucleus, once established, 
suffice for all further evolution ? We must con- 
sider the nature of its combination : We see that 
the inner motion of the creature, its power of 
feeling, is kept in constant exercise through all 
the influences which are being brought to bear 
upon the creature. Each experience leaves its 
imprint. Each facilitates the reception of the 
one following. Now, we are aware that the com- 
bination of substance and life-vibration which con- 
stitutes the creature clearly defines its character 
and consequent manner of perception. This 
means that the creature is limited to one certain 
variety of experiences. What lies beyond the 
being's power of identification cannot act upon its 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 3 1 

powers of perception and feeling with the result 
of developing these beyond their limited sphere 
of consciousness. Thus, being restricted to re- 
ceiving always the same kind of experiences, 
in the same manner, with the same consequent 
impression, the creature's inner motion gradually 
becomes so familiarized with them, that, finally, 
a further impression upon its feeling, or conscious- 
ness; is rendered impossible. The power of inner 
motion becomes indifferent through continued 
sameness of demands upon it. The creature at 
last ceases to perceive and to respond to them ; it 
has perfectly absorbed all the kinds of experiences 
which were possible of attainment through this 
body, and therefore finds cause no longer for 
maintaining it as an organism. Thus we see that 
further evolution is dependent upon reorganiza- 
tion, reproduction of body. 



CHAPTER V. 

NATURE OF THE PRIMITIVE ORGANISMS ; CONDITION 

OF THE EARTH'S SURFACE AT TIME OF 

THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE. 

We will now, in Spirit, move round about 
among these various lives and observe how they 
unfold. Where shall we begin ? With the small- 
est, simplest being, of course. But how is this to 
be found ? To be sure, not through the eye of 
the personality. We may magnify our power of 
vision as everlastingly as though we wanted to 
discover the smallest point, — and the earliest 
form of life does not appear. One ray of sun- 
shine and a point of matter is all it represents. 
We must once more look through the eye of the 
Spirit : Is there a highest thought ? No : there 
is always one still higher, and it takes a creature 
to think it. Therefore, the scale of life is, in this 
direction, without limit. Could we find a limit 
in the other ? We find the scale of values in 
general to be without end. Whichever value we 
establish as the starting point from which to 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 33 

count degrees, — we shall always find the same to 
be exactly in the center of the scale. Degrees of 
life are values, also, and therefore we need not 
further look for the lowest nor the highest. The 
various lives, like all the other demonstrations of 
the Spirit, represent the idea merely of relative 
degrees, contrasts amongst one another. As we 
shall find ourselves, wherever we may go, always 
in the center of Space, so, no matter how high 
we may rise, shall we yet be in the center of 
the scale of life ; and thus we shall never be able 
to discern either end. We may, however, feel 
assured beyond a doubt that each being, great or 
small, comes to the World with a mission to ful- 
fill, which is as well defined as the creature itself. 
There has been a call of necessity for each, or it 
could not come. 

Now, as we are not able to identify the smallest, 
simplest being, we will content ourselves with 
surveying the general characteristics of the class 
to which it must belong : The lowest form of 
life must certainly be that of mere vegetation. 
Wherever the life-vibrations coming from the Sun 
meet with the required conditions, there must 
result a corresponding creature, a nucleus for 
further development. The life of those which 
mark the primitive stages of existence must be 



34 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

simple indeed. These beings cannot be capable 
of anything beyond striving to adhere to the 
environment in which they first appeared, absorb- 
ing from the same whatever harmonizes with their 
nature, and meantime giving birth to other bodies 
of their kind ; then their own dissolves again as 
quietly and quickly as it came. These primitive 
beings must have already existed upon the Earth 
long before the elements had parted sufficiently to 
form a solid surface such as we see at present. 
While the solar vibrations, which are never lost, 
helped in the gradual separation of the light sub- 
stance from the heavy, the thin from the dense, 
they must at the same time have given rise within 
this chaos of substance to a great variety of life. 

It is, of course, not in our power to form within 
our mind an exact picture of the condition in 
which our planet was when the first signs of life 
made their appearance here. Nor can we at the 
present time obtain any reliable information con- 
cerning the first stages of unfoldment through 
which the various creatures passed, and which 
have eventually led to the great variety of species 
as they now appear around us. But we may rest 
assured that at some remote time each species was 
represented by creatures of the most primitive 
resources only, and that each species was then 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 35 

compelled to evolve the faculties which charac- 
terize the same, slowly and through the individual 
effort of the beings representing it. For the 
Spirit expresses in its creatures the Law that all 
powers are to be evolved solely through the 
medium of experience and exercise. The first 
stages in the evolution of planetary life may be 
surmised in their general outline only. We will 
make an attempt : 

We may imagine the Earth to have been, by 
reason of its greater heat at the time, without a 
solid crust. Instead, it was enveloped by a num- 
ber of strata differing from one another with 
regard to density of substance, the most attenu- 
ated stratum forming the outermost sphere. The 
creatures which came forth in this region received 
the strongest life-vibrations and the least sub- 
stance, — were therefore the most active. Then, 
in their order, came those below : the greater the 
density of the strata in which they came forth, 
the more substance was theirs, and the less life. 
All these beings now floated about aimlessly, 
without finding any permanent hold ; for there 
was none. Each, however, remained in or near 
the stratum to which it originally belonged by its 
character and density ; and, as each in turn trans- 
mitted to its offspring, not only its own general 



36 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

nature, but also some of the powers evolved 
during its individual existence, the species as a 
whole were thus naturally enabled to keep pace 
with the changing conditions of their environ- 
ment. So, when finally a solid surface formed, 
those which had remained at the bottom, had 
already rendered themselves equal to the occasion 
by having evolved the various kinds of roots 
which this new condition required of them. Their 
life-vibrations being of the weaker kind, these 
creatures were more dependent upon a lasting 
hold ; and so, in following their tendency to take 
root in the spot, each according to the nature of 
its substance and environment, they gradually 
developed into the various species known as 
plants. As the dense vapor hovering over this 
newly formed surface became more and more 
clarified, and, at the same time, the ground 
assumed its irregular altitudes, some plants 
became exposed to the influence of air and 
consequent stronger life-vibrations, while the 
remainder continued below, under the water. 
Thus resulted the variety of land- and water-plants, 
differing in degree of unfoldment and delicacy, 
but, originally, of the like nature. We may, 
indeed, find many of the species in the water 
represented correspondingly on the land above. 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 37 

As we just observed, all life was at first mere 
vegetation. The organisms moving about in the 
currents of their different strata had no conscious- 
ness of any outer motion ; they were completely 
at the mercy of all the influences that came to 
their environments. In the lower strata there 
was more tranquillity by reason of their greater 
density. The creatures living there partook of 
this nature and, as we have seen, fastened them- 
selves permanently to the soil. Those in the 
higher regions, however, were subjected to influ- 
ences more disquieting ; they were moved about 
with greater violence. At the same time, they 
themselves had been more favored with rays of 
life-vibration, were comparatively less substantial, 
in fact, of an entirely different combination, and 
possessed more activity of their own. Thus, 
while those below were settling down to a life of 
tranquillity, these creatures were, in the course of 
generations, compelled, from both without and 
within, to adapt themselves to an existence 
altogether different. Of course they, too, were 
bent upon attracting to themselves and adhering 
to whatever came within their reach and could 
serve their purpose. That part of their surface 
which was the most receptive performed the work 
of absorption, while the parts surrounding this 



38 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

"mouth " became more and more employed in the 
work of adhering to that which was t» be fed 
upon. Now, while being tossed about in violent 
currents, the creatures continually collided with 
all kinds of matter, and their powers of adhesion 
received the corresponding exercise, which had 
to be both sudden and energetic. That which 
seemed agreeable was drawn and held ; the 
opposite was, with equal energy, thrust off. 
During this exercise alternating between opposite 
directions the parts employed, of course, gradually, 
from generation to generation, grew in power, 
developed into individual character and form, and 
eventually hardened into the various muscular 
limbs. With their development also grew their 
demands for gratification ; and so, when the 
elements were finally separated from one another 
as we see them now, — into land, water, and air, 
— there was to be found in each a variety, not alone 
of plant life, but also of beings which had evolved 
the power of self-directed motion from place to 
place. Among these, as among the former, 
the plants, we find certain strong resemblances 
between species of one element and those of 
another, proving that, originally, their natures 
were similar. Although the same Spirit dwells 
in all creatures, whether they live in the air, the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 39 

water, or upon dry soil, the latter kind are 
favored with the best conditions for the unfold- 
ment of that which is in them. We will therefore 
direct our chief attention to the evolution of life 
upon land, beginning, of course, with observing 
the attainments made possible on the lowest 
plane, that of plant-life. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PLANT-LIFE. 

As we have seen, the plant is the organism 
which is favored with the lowest degree of activity. 
Its life-vibrations are comparatively slow and 
weak; but they are, on the other hand, proportion- 
ately sure and persistent. In its concern for the 
preservation of self in the midst of a world of 
change and motion, it fastens more and more 
securely to such favorable spot as it has hap- 
pened to drift into. Here it now adapts itself as 
best it can to all the good and bad influences of 
its locality. In compensation for this, the plant 
then finds itself in position to obtain all its 
requirements without further effort than that of 
reaching out below and above ground and assimi- 
lating the nourishment, air, and sunshine thus 
gathered in. Having once succeeded in establish- 
ing its hold, it is now free to spread itself as far 
as its power of growth will permit. All the rest 
of its attention is left to direct itself towards the 
maintenance of its character, first in 'the individ- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 4 1 

ual self and then, through reproduction, in the 
species to which the plant belongs. 

Now, as we are aware, the different combinations 
of substance must, from the very start, form a 
variety of plants, the characters of which likewise 
differ. Also do the various climates exert their 
powerful influence towards diversifying character. 
These two particulars, therefore, cause and govern 
the great variety of vegetation which covers the 
Earth. Wind, water, animals, and man, — all 
have then done their part towards the distribution 
of the seed, and have thus caused its growth to 
become promiscuous. Look into a garden and 
behold what manifold expressions of plant-life 
may exist and thrive in close proximity to one 
another : Here is a huge pine-tree ; close by we 
find a slender grape-vine. How these two differ 
in nature and appearance ! While the pine uses 
almost all the nourishment which it absorbs, for 
the purpose of strengthening and enlarging its 
roots, trunk, and branches, bearing needles for 
leaves, and hard, dry cones for fruit ; the grape- 
vine, on the contrary, develops so much root and 
stem only as is required for passing its nourish- 
ment through, forming great leaves on the way 
and gathering the greater part of its substance at 
the ends in the form of juicy berries. Then see 



42 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

the contrast between these two and yonder carrot, 
which is almost all root. Again, compare the 
huge stem and blossom of the sun-flower with the 
cabbage-plant, which is nearly all leaves. Then 
contrast, for instance, the tulip with the violet : 
the one, holding high its gaudy blossom of weak 
odor; the other, hiding in modest seclusion, yet 
filling the air with delightful perfume. Indeed, 
on closer observation it appears to us as though 
every characteristic trait that we can conceive of 
were symbolized in some species of plant, — as 
though the vegetable plane were, so to speak, the 
unconscious reflector of the animal and human 
characters. Each plant, from the clinging para- 
site to the sturdy, independent oak, from the 
offensive carrion-flower to the beautiful, health- 
giving rose, suggests to us some particular trait 
to be found actively demonstrated on the planes 
above. 

To be sure, all these manifestations of distinct 
and permanent characteristics in plant-life are not 
maintained by what we call deliberate, conscious, 
individual preference ; we see that they are orig- 
inally determined by the nature of the substances 
and life-vibrations to which the plants owe their 
existence. Each plant then maintains its individ- 
ual character simply because it cannot have any 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 43 

other ; its own is the only one which it can ever 
know as being in existence. For, the same roots 
which help the plant to its tranquil life of self- 
indulgence, also hinder it from coming into con- 
scious contact with the various other characters 
with which it is surrounded. Each plant remains 
in the midst of its associates an isolated being, 
limited in the exercise of its soul to the simplicity 
and sameness of experiences which characterize 
its life. Thus, a rose-bush, no matter how highly 
cultivated, will always remain but a rose-bush, a 
senseless plant and helpless sufferer of all the 
influences which may be brought to bear upon it. 
And the only means by which it can give voice to 
its inner life, are its vibrations of odor, — emana- 
tions of its own substance, which, however beau- 
tiful they may be, are still the most primitive of 
individual life-manifestations. Thus we see that 
on this line of evolution the organism is not 
designed for any higher attainment than that of 
developing into beauty and perfection as a plant. 
On this plane the Spirit establishes character and 
feeling as rudimentary ideas only. We find plant- 
life to be but a foretokening of that which is to 
come ; it is a preliminary manifestation, though 
nevertheless an important link in the great chain 
of evolution. 



44 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

Observe how the manner in which the organism 
endeavors to gratify its desire for self-preservation 
at the same time decides the limit of its un- 
foldment. The same tendency which leads the 
creatures to fasten themselves permanently to 
foreign substance, eventually hinders them from 
rising out into a higher sphere of life. 

We see, then, that life may be further evolved 
only through improving its manner of preserva- 
tion ; and this improvement must, in the present 
instance, consist in introducing into the creature's 
life the idea of letting go its hold and moving 
from the spot. Forced, involuntary motion will 
not do : it must be self-directed. 

This power of independent motion requires that 
the creatures possessing the same be more con- 
scious of existence than the plant ; they must be 
favored with a higher form of life, and conse- 
quently also with a superior kind of body. Their 
general nature has already become apparent to us 
during our study of the conditions which first 
caused them to take form. There we saw that 
these creatures, the animals, indeed originate 
from a superior kind of germs ; that they have, 
from the very beginning, been favored with a 
greater share of life-vibrations as well as with a 
body constituting a superior combination of sub- 



A SPIRJTUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 45 

stance. The animals, being thus altogether of a 
higher nature, constitute a plane of life clearly 
distinguishable from that of plant-life, — a higher 
plane. At the same time, however, we perceive 
that the various species of animals differ among 
one another, like those of the plants, not alone as 
to inner activity, or life-vibration, but just as 
much in respect to the original combination of 
the substances from which they came forth. This 
fact is evidenced alone by the difference in the 
character of nourishment required by the various 
species. We will, then, continue our tour and 
enter the kingdom of the animals. 



CHAPTER VII. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ANIMAL BODY. 

Great are the possibilities contained within 
the idea of independent motion. Increased mo- 
tion truly means increased life. Let us, then, 
give our first attention to the evolution which this 
higher mode of life effects in the body of the 
creature. We may take for granted that animal- 
life, like that of the plants, was represented from 
the very start by a great number and variety of 
specimens at the same time ; for the Earth, being 
round, and performing revolutions of a regular 
character, was enabled by the help of the Sun to 
offer favorable conditions simultaneously in the 
whole circumference of various latitudes. Now, 
in their primitive stages of evolution, as we have 
already observed, these beings can have had in 
operation no other force which distinguished them 
from the plant, than the mere power of motion. 
We are aware that they had also a greater power 
of inner motion ; but their animal-faculties were 
still all in the germ, awaiting their development 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 47 

in accordance with the Law, which says, " Growth 
through Exercise." 

These creatures now moved about promiscu- 
ously, bent upon obtaining the wherewith to pre- 
serve their lives. Their waste of tissue being 
greater than that of the plant, and their bodies 
being thus designed to feed upon other life, they 
were compelled, from the start, to aggressiveness 
toward the outer world; each preying upon the 
other, each, in turn, was forced to fight for the 
preservation of its own existence. It is only nat- 
ural, that, in the course of such repeated demands 
upon the animal's sudden and energetic activity, 
every power of which the animal was capable 
gradually, in the course of generations, evolved 
into full growth, each faculty establishing and 
developing for its permanent use a special organ. 
So, from at first sensing the other beings upon 
contact merely, that is, feeling and tasting them, 
the animal soon began to perceive them at a little 
distance, through the vibrations of odor. Then it 
developed the faculty for receiving knowledge 
coming from sources more remote, in the form of 
sound; and, finally, it placed itself in conscious 
correspondence with the delicate vibrations of 
light. The comparative degree of development 
attained by the various species in their organs is, 



48 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

of course, determined by their respective environ- 
ments as well as by the nature of the creatures 
with which each species is in correspondence. 
The arrangement of these organs amongst one 
another is, however, generally the same in all ; 
there is everywhere expressed the one law of 
practicability. The senses are always found in 
close proximity to one another ; they are out- 
growths of one great nerve-center, the brain, and 
are invariably situated where their services are 
the most needed and where they are the most 
efficacious : in the front part of the body, forming 
the head. The limbs of the animal have adjusted 
themselves preeminently to one kind of exercise, 
— the forward motion. This, we see, is deter- 
mined by the location of the mouth ; for the 
motion itself is executed by the animal for the 
particular purpose of bringing its mouth in con- 
tact with articles of food. Thus, the mouth 
remains the foremost feature. Then, the air 
which the animal is to absorb must be as fresh as 
can be obtained ; therefore also the breathing 
apparatus opens out into the front, at the most 
favorable spot. Naturally, the organ of smell is 
located within this opening. Here it is to exam- 
ine the incoming air, not with regard to whole- 
someness merely, but also in order to discover the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 49 

direction in which the animal must move to find 
its food. Now, it is not enough that the nose be 
in front : it must be so situated that it may serve 
at the same time in the best possible mariner in 
the process of examining the food before this lat- 
ter is taken into the body. Thus we find the nose 
always immediately above the mouth. In like 
manner we may trace the causes for the particular 
location of eyes and ears. In fact, there is in the 
animal's body not an organ that has not received 
its place according to the dictates of the Spirit's 
clearly defined wisdom. So, for instance, the tail, 
which, though last, is by no means the least in 
importance : See how many different uses this 
appendix must serve in the various species of ani- 
mals : The pigeon steers its flight with it ; the 
horse uses it as a protector against injurious 
insects; the monkey employs it in climbing; — 
we may find many other important services which 
are rendered by this feature. But its origin, gen- 
erally speaking, must certainly be the same in all 
species. Considering that all the perceptive fac- 
ulties of the animal are located in the fore-part of 
the body, the rear portion seems comparatively 
little guarded ; and this circumstance must have 
furnished the principal motive for the appearance 
of the appendix. Unconsciously to the animal 



50 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

itself, the instinctive knowledge of being unable 
to keep properly in its view the rear of its body, 
must have led the creature to the establishment 
of something that might act as a kind of prelim- 
inary guard. So, this tentacle appeared, in order 
to serve chiefly the purpose of giving the animal 
timely warning of all dangers that threaten in that 
immediate vicinity ; the body may thus receive 
the necessary attention also in that quarter. 

Looking about, we find that many of the spe- 
cies foremost in development have the finest and 
largest tails. See the beautiful tail of the fox, 
the Newfoundland dog, the horse, and the long 
and nimble tail of the cat, the monkey, etc. ; then, 
the glory of the peacock, bird of paradise, parrot. 

Another proof of the great importance of this 
last of the bodily features of the animal is the 
fact, that, depriving an animal of its tail, means 
destroying its beauty as a creature. For, what 
the eye of one who is in harmony with nature 
recognizes anywhere as beauty, is harmony ; and 
harmony means that all essentials are present and 
active. When, therefore, a creature appears to 
the eye of the correct observer as being in any 
respect less beautiful than it was before, we may 
know that the former harmony has given place to 
a certain discord ; that one or more of the essen- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 5 1 

tial parts of the creature have disappeared ; and 
that, in proportion to how far the creature has 
lost its beauty, it must have lost also its efficiency. 
In every feature distinguishing the animal from 
the plant we perceive the mighty influence which 
a life of motion exerts upon the animal-body. 
Increased perception of danger means improve- 
ment of the contrivances for insuring safety. 
How vastly more active the desire for self- 
preservation is in the animal than it could ever be 
in the plant, is shown also in the care which the 
former bestows upon its offspring. The lowest 
species, of course, being the weakest of percep- 
tion, look no more to the welfare of their seed, 
after this has left them, than does the plant ; they 
content themselves with laying great numbers of 
eggs. The animals of higher development, for 
instance, birds, guard their eggs and tend to them 
until the young come forth ; then they transfer 
their care to the young, until these are able to 
look out for themselves. These species, there- 
fore, need not and cannot have so great a number 
of offspring as the former. We are aware that 
the animals of the species most advanced in the 
scale of evolution retain their young within them- 
selves, not letting the same appear in the outer 
world until the organism is so far perfected as to 



52 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

be in readiness for independent motion. The 
nobler the species, the more time and care do the 
parents bestow upon their young, and the smaller 
is the number produced ; for, the call of necessity 
for reproduction in the interest of the preserva- 
tion of the species limits itself in accordance with 
the amount of protection extended towards the 
offspring. 

We observe still another prominent feature 
which distinguishes the animal-body from the 
plant : while the latter gives evidence of its inner 
life through the substantial vibrations of odor, 
the animal-body has, in addition to this -kind of 
manifestation, acquired power over the more 
far-reaching, more penetrating, vibrations of sound. 
These being of a higher order, .the animal has a 
far wider range of facility for making itself known. 
The sound thus originating within the body by 
the volition of the creature is likewise but a 
product of the idea of motion : it comes forth as 
evidence of the greater activity, the stronger 
feeling, within the being. And, as we are enabled 
to discern the character of the harmony within 
each plant through the medium of odor, so may 
we perceive the inner state of the animal by 
taking note of the sound of its voice. Observe 
the difference between the grunt of the pig, the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 53 

purring of the cat, the nightingale's song, and the 
roar of the lion ! Each species of animal has a 
different idea of the same world ; each reflects 
the conditions of life in accordance with its own 
power of inner perception. The lion, for instance, 
in whose make-up the propensity to destroy is 
powerfully represented, for that reason perceives 
less of the World's harmony ; and, in consequence, 
the lion's voice has a less harmonious, less agree- 
able sound than the voice of the gentler animals, 
as, for instance, the birds of song. A careful 
study of the lives and voices of the various 
animal species will show us that each trait of 
character exerts its distinct influence upon the 
character of the voice ; and this latter changes 
with the degree of activity to which the various 
propensities are aroused. Thus is called forth 
the endless variety of sounds " expressing the 
animal's craving and gratification, distress and 
delight, discord and harmony. 

Herewith we have obtained a general view of 
the powers which the animal-soul has developed 
in its instrument, the body. Now we will look 
into the manner in which the soul itself evolves. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

LIFE OF THE ANIMAL SOUL. 

Although the soul equips its body with the 
various perceptive powers for the purpose of 
insuring proper guidance in the direction of 
safety and general well-being, we find that these 
physical senses cannot be the only means by 
which the animals obtain their knowledge. We 
find that these latter are aware of the coming 
storm, earthquake, volcanic eruption, and other 
great disturbances in Nature long before any 
danger can become apparent to the physical 
senses. We see the swallow returning to the 
same nest from which it went forth months ago ; 
in the meantime, it has been a thousand miles 
away from it. A dog will find a lost person, 
although the animal is guided apparently by 
nothing but the recollection of the odor of some- 
thing which that person has worn. It is plain, 
that the senses of the body cannot reach beyond 
the physical horizon, nor into the future. There- 
fore, we see that the powers of the soul are not 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 55 

restricted to acting within the immediate vicinity 
of the animal, but that the soul perceives also 
without using the senses of the body ; it has its 
own peculiar eye, and the instructions coming to 
the animal through this mode of perception are, as 
we know, followed implicitly. They are the 
promptings of what we call the "instinct." This 
mysterious faculty of seeing through the eye of 
the soul is, however, not to be regarded as an 
achievement of the creatures that possess it ; the 
same is already to be found as an essential feature 
in the life of the plant. Without this guide it 
would be utterly impossible to the flower, for 
instance, to adapt itself so wonderfully to the 
nature of the visiting insects, and to contrive 
within the blossom the complicated mechanism 
that induces these, whether they will or not, to 
gratify the plant's desire for cross-fertilization 
with others of its species. The reason why the 
animal retains its mediumistic quality lies in the 
fact that the intellect is still comparatively 
inactive. The power of thought is not yet 
awakened to such a degree as to conceal original 
impressions within the animal's mind by covering 
them with new pictures. Though the creature 
remains comparatively bare of the more compli- 
cated knowledge, it continues in perfect harmony 



$6 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

with the pure and simple laws which guide its 
life ; and, being constantly under the direct 
influence of the raw elements, it is only neces- 
sary and just, that, whenever circumstances require 
more knowledge than the animal can obtain 
through its physical senses, this knowledge 
should come to the soul directly from the source 
of Nature herself. Here we are again forcibly 
reminded of the fact that the soul is not the 
creation of the brain, but that the latter is created 
by the soul. 

The first qualities brought into play by the 
soul are, of course, the lowest in the scale ; we 
call them the "animal propensities." As we have 
already noted, the foremost of these is the desire 
for acquisition of substance : the animal wants to 
eat and drink to sustain its life ; therefore it 
must provide for itself the necessary substance. 
Now, in the animal-world the conditions for 
obtaining the required nourishment are not always 
favorable. Thus we see the animals compelled 
to lay up stores of food and to hide the same 
away. The faculty which prompts and enables 
them to do this, we know by the term "secretive- 
ness." We have seen also that the desire for 
self preservation forces each animal into an 
attitude of aggressiveness towards its fellow- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 57 

creatures ; it is compelled, both to fight and to 
defend itself ; it exercises, in addition to the 
former faculties, also those of combativeness, 
destructiveness, firmness and caution. 

We observe, that, next to the desire for pres- 
ervation of self, the mightiest impulse in the 
animal is that for the maintenance of the species. 
As the degree of consciousness increases, we find 
the animal more sensible, not alone to the dangers 
besetting its individual being, but also of those 
which menace its offspring. The animal finds it 
necessary to extend its care for individual safety 
and well-being also to its young; its desire for 
maintenance of the species evolves into love for 
the particular young which it brings forth ; it pro- 
vides for its offspring. A secluded place must 
be found where they may be raised in safety ; a 
home is established, and the parents are impelled 
to continue in each other's company. While the 
female attends to her duties as mother, protecting 
the young and watching over the home, her mate 
provides the food and protects the whole estab- 
lishment. Thus are evolved the faculties of 
inhabitiveness, continuity, and conjugal love. 

With many animals, the establishment of a 
home means the building of one ; birds must build 
their nests ; foxes, spiders, etc., must all construct 



58 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

their respective abodes. Thus we see the intel- 
lectual faculties of constructiveness, ideality, and 
imitation come forth in active demonstration. In 
fact, when we look more carefully into the lives 
of the various animals, we become aware that 
each faculty of the intellect is here represented in 
some one or more species, to the degree deter- 
mined by the relations existing between the spe- 
cies and their surroundings. We find that the 
senses of locality, tune, and time, the facility for 
observing size, form, color, weight, for perceiving 
the order of things, comparing these with one 
another, and remembering both objects and the 
events connected with the same, — are all pres- 
ent. Even the highest of the intellectual powers, 
that of tracing cause and effect, is not missing; 
for there is abundant evidence that this faculty, 
too, here and there comes forth and helps the 
animal. These powers are, of course, all evolved 
direct through the medium of the various physical 
senses. 

Here our attention is arrested by an additional 
feature : We have observed that the animal has 
obtained power over the vibrations of sound. 
Now, as the creature moves about, it cannot 
always remain in line of vision with its compan- 
ions. Family-life, for instance, demands that the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 59 

animals be constantly informed of one another's 
whereabouts. Where this information cannot be 
obtained through the power of vision, some other 
means must be resorted to. Thus, as a substi- 
tute, the sense of hearing is placed in correspond- 
ence with the powers of the voice : certain sounds 
are, by instinctive and mutual understanding, 
connected with certain meanings ; the animals 
receive intelligence from each other without the 
aid of vision ; they cultivate this means of com- 
munication, and thus originates the power of 
speech. 

There are as many different environments as 
there are species of animals to live in them ; 
and, as we see, the general development of each 
animal corresponds with the position which the 
creature occupies in the World. The fox, for 
instance, which preys chiefly upon birds and other 
nimble animals, must continually exercise an 
extraordinary degree of cunning. The swallow, 
which must travel to and fro between its little 
home in the north and the far off southern coun- 
tries, has a correspondingly strong development 
of the sense of locality. The spider is known for 
its great ingenuity in contriving and constructing. 
Each of the propensities, the selfish as well as 
the social, and each intellectual faculty, is thus 



60 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

particularly emphasized above the others in some 
one or more species. 

We observe that the animals of many species 
have not extended their consideration to the family- 
life merely, but that their whole families unite 
in herds and flocks. Of course, this union forms 
itself within the species only. The desire for this 
mode of living arises from the individual's instinct- 
ive perception of its weakness as compared with 
the power of the enemy. We see even wolves 
combine against the stronger creature. This 
tendency is, however, in many cases also an 
evidence of higher development of soul. We 
observe that elephants, monkeys, — many species 
of animals of a high nature, — likewise travel in 
herds. Let us direct our attention to those of the 
latter class : These, we find, are drawn into one 
another's society, not alone through the instinct- 
ive knowledge that greater safety is obtained 
through life in union with others of their kind, 
but they show that they cultivate this sociability 
also for its own sake. This is the primitive 
expression of the faculty of friendship. They rec- 
ognize one another as being of the like nature 
and as being placed in the like relationship to the 
animals of other species. Their natures being so 
perfectly similar that each sees itself reflected in 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 6l 

those of its kind, they all-together practically join 
to represent but one soul, the dictates of which 
being implicitly obeyed by each individual. Thus 
we see the first appearance of organization among 
separate full-grown creatures. One of the herd 
is elevated to the position of leader and guardian 
of all the rest. This animal now looks after the 
welfare of its companions, and, in return, receives 
their acknowledgement of its superiority ; for they 
follow and obey. In the ability of the animal 
to recognize a leader we note the first indica- 
tion of the presence of moral sentiment in the 
animal-world ; we observe the primitive expres- 
sion of the faculty of veneration. The holding 
of a position of superiority implies the presence 
of the feeling of confidence in self as well as 
firmness of will ; while the responsibility attend- 
ing this position of trust necessitates conscien- 
tiousness in the leader as well as in the herd which 
is to follow him. Where there is difference in 
station, there is also a certain degree of ambition. 
We further note, that, in extending his attention 
beyond his own immediate interests to those of 
the whole herd, or flock, the leader gives evidence 
of an inclination, however faint, towards the exer- 
cise of benevolence. As his companions perceive 
the benefit obtained in consequence of his leader- 



62 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

ship, they become disposed to the feeling of con- 
fidence, faith, — the twin-sister of hope. We 
may make these observations while watching, for 
instance, the chickens : see how the rooster pro- 
vides for his wards, how he calls them when he 
has made a lucky find, and how these gather con- 
fidingly around him. 

How far the highest faculties of the soul, the 
powers of moral judgment, are developed in the 
animal-world, may be particularly observed in the 
social life of such as elephants and monkeys, 
which hold veritable courts of justice: an indi- 
vidual has been accused of violating one of the 
important laws of the community ; there is a 
general meeting; judge, accuser, and defence, — 
all are present; evidence is taken; and then, 
after an excited controversy, when the culprit has 
been judged guilty, he is forthwith expelled from 
the herd, which thereupon leaves the place. He 
follows at a distance, crying in his distress ; — 
he had hoped to be acquitted. 

Thus we see, that, in the animal world, not 
only all the selfish, social, and intellectual facul- 
ties are represented, but also every one of the 
moral sentiments ; — each one with special force 
in some particular species. How would this 
social life which we observe among the more 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 63 

highly developed animals be possible, if they had 
not moral perception ? For, the higher senti- 
ments are really nothing else than the perception 
of the laws which bring forth and sustain a com- 
munity. 

But now the question arises within us, " If the 
animal-world possesses all the faculties which 
characterize the human being, — why, then, does 
neither the social, nor the individual condition of 
the animals admit of any further evolution ? " 
We see, that, as a plant must ever remain a plant, 
so an elephant remains an elephant, a dog can 
never be aught but a dog, and so forth ; each ani- 
mal, no matter how highly it evolves its faculties, 
is still restricted to its original nature, — ever 
remaining but an animal. Evolution has once 
more reached a limit. Why ? 

We observed, while contemplating the life of 
the plant, how the limit of evolution on that plane 
is determined by the manner in which the plant 
obeys the impulse of self-preservation. We saw, 
that, in the plants, further evolution is impossible 
by reason of their nature as beings without the 
power of independent motion ; and that the 
higher life comes into existence only through giv- 
ing to the creature this power and also the nature 
to make use of it. Now let us take a view in 



64 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

general outline of the conditions prevailing among 
the animals : We have seen how each species 
is differently constituted from the very start. 
While the plant-species, in their tranquil, station- 
ary existence, represent the various traits of char- 
acter in the form merely of reflections, and 
pictures, or symbols ; we find the animals, by 
reason of the higher consciousness resulting 
from their life of motion, able to demonstrate 
these traits as living realities. Each kind of ani- 
mal represents certain traits of character as they 
appear in active form, in life ; but not a single 
animal ever proceeds to develop within itself any 
of the faculties in which the other species excel. 
Each species restricts itself to those characteris- 
tics with which it happens to be favored from the 
beginning, and- can rise no further in the scale of 
life and power. Why ? Because there is no pos- 
sibility of any perfect cooperation among the 
various species. Neither of them is qualified for 
forming such a union with other species as would 
be required for the transmission of powers from 
one to the other. The souls representing the 
various species of animals, notwithstanding the 
fact that they are of the same Spirit and perme- 
ated with the like general motive, are as different 
from one another as are their bodies. Being so 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 65 

vastly different, and at the same time so power- 
fully prompted to assert their respective individu- 
alities at one another's expense, these species 
remain blind to one another's inner natures, and 
can thus never become cognizant of advantages 
contained in traits which they themselves do not 
already possess. Each animal, therefore, remains 
content with strictly adapting itself to the sphere 
in which it came forth ; because, under the cir- 
cumstances, departure from the same would result 
in the destruction of the creature. The animal, 
like the plant, may make its own individuality 
more pronounced ; but that is all. 

Thus we see that the cause which bars the 
further evolution of life on the animal plane is 
similar to that through which the powers of the 
plant are limited : As the plant continues a solitary 
being upon its piece of earth, so the animal-soul 
remains fixed within the solitude of its particular 
species. Further evolution of life is possible 
only through the introduction of more freedom, 
more independence of motion. But this requires 
the establishment of more harmony. Now, it is 
plain that the conditions existent in the animal- 
world are there to stay ; that the animal-species, 
by their very constitution, are forced to continue 
alternately preying upon one another and getting 



66 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

out of one another's way. The spiritual atmos- 
phere of their world can never change ; they 
know of none other, and it is impossible for any 
of them to rise out of its twilight into a brighter 
and larger sphere of existence. The spark of 
life within them is not powerful enough to show 
them that there is a way beyond. Not even 
those animals which live in the more peaceful and 
harmonious circumstances surroundiug the human 
family, can understand the higher life sufficiently 
to grow into the same. The noble dog, for 
instance, although it has evolved some of the 
highest faculties, such as veneration and faithful- 
ness, to a degree of power not exceeded in the 
human, still remains within its own sphere, by 
natural preference. This creature will sacrifice 
its life for man, but it cannot see far enough into 
the nature of human existence to prefer the same 
to its own. The life of man is to the dog as 
incomprehensible and inimitable as the life of a 
divine being is to man. The dog may extend its 
benevolence also to a cat, but it sees no reason 
for adopting any of the likes and dislikes, and 
faculties in general, which characterize the object 
of its attentions. The animal's soul and body 
have perfectly adapted themselves to the life 
which it wants to lead, and so the species remains 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 67 

intact in all its characteristics. Thus we see why 
the further evolution of life is dependent upon 
the introduction of a new idea. 



CHAPTER IX. 

FORMATION AND NATURE OF THE HUMAN BODY. 

The Law says, " More harmony, more freedom, 
— greater development." The Law must be 
complied with. All the evidence before our eyes 
shows us that there is but one process possible 
by which this greater harmony may be established ; 
and this process consists in uniting a variety of 
animal-souls and compelling them to live together 
in a common body, so that they may be dependent 
solely upon this for all their manifestations. 
Each of these animal-species must join its char- 
acteristics with those of the others, and likewise 
must this body be equipped with such structural 
features as are required for the gratification of 
each of the traits and faculties represented. So 
that this union may be possible, these souls must 
all derive their growth out of one and the same 
spiritual root, that is, they must be united through 
singleness of motive. We know that this motive 
is already present ; it is the same, which, in the 
animal-world, causes the species to remain sepa- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. (X) 

rated and thus to be barred from further develop- 
ment : it is the old desire for preservation of 
self and kind. Now, when these various souls 
find themselves inseparably united in one body, 
this common desire becomes the very motive 
which must insure their cooperation ; for this 
joint body is the only one in their possession. 
In fact, the voices of the many being combined, 
the anxiety for the preservation of this body is 
only so much the stronger. On this fundamental 
principle, then, is established the combined activity 
of all. Each soul is now bound to help the 
others, in order to maintain itself. This condition 
being fulfilled, each is free to follow its own 
impulse towards individual, social, and moral 
activity, aided by the combined intellectual 
powers of all. 

Let us look first at the general nature of this 
body : It is plain that that soul which contains 
the various faculties in the most harmonious 
proportion is represented in the animal-world by 
the most perfectly equipped body. The structure 
of this body, inasmuch as it is the one which 
would answer most nearly the requirements of the 
souls of the other species when united, will thus 
become the model for the construction of the 
common body. This most perfect of the animal- 



yO A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD 

bodies is, as we are aware, that of the monkey ; 
it has the most manifold facility for motion ; it is 
the most nimble ; while in the construction of 
the hand, as possessed by none of the other ani- 
mals, we recognize the powerful medium with the 
help of which life may establish itself on the 
higher plane. According to the proportions in 
which the various species are to be represented 
in the common body, will its features be modified, 
so as to meet more perfectly the requirements of 
each ; but, as we observe, its general configuration 
remains the same in every instance. In its 
features we shall always find expressed the same 
superiority over the bodies of the individual 
animals ; it is ever recognizable as the repre- 
sentative of the one grand species established on 
a higher plane of life, — the human. 

We find in this body the requisites for absorption 
and assimilation of all the various kinds of food, 
animal as well as vegetable ; each animal is 
represented in the character of teeth and stomach. 
Feet and hands, both are present. The united 
perceptive powers of the different species has 
naturally brought forth an harmonious develop- 
ment of the physical senses which are to serve 
them all. Thus, the senses of feeling, taste, and 
smell understand at once the nature of all the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. J I 

substances with which the individual animals are 
in correspondence. The ear responds to a range 
of sound-vibrations such as will satisfy the needs 
of all species, while the eye can perceive all colors 
and forms. Each animal brings, together with 
the trait peculiar to itself, also the character of 
voice determined by the same. Thus, in the 
human body, the voice not only has the power of 
expressing each trait separately, but, as these are 
all united in the same, this voice is far superior 
to that of any one of the animal-voices with respect 
to character in general. 

When we observe the shape, size, and quality 
of the brain which governs the body, the result 
of the blending of these various animal-souls into 
one is shown to us most clearly. Each trait is 
here represented by its organic substance. All 
the animal propensities are present in superior 
strength and proportion : The desire for food has 
at its disposal in the brain an organ manifold 
enough to gratify the tastes of each species. 
The impulse towards reproduction, which in each 
kind of animal is active at a different time of the 
year, is, because of their union within the human 
body, capable of appearance at any time the year 
round ; thus each is gratified. Likewise is the 
character of parental-love of a superior strength 



72 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

and quality. So are also the faculties of acquisi- 
tiveness, secretiveness, caution, and so forth, 
each increased in power through the union of 
these souls. The same may be observed with 
regard to all the higher organs ; the social, moral, 
and intellectual ; the traits of fox, pig, crow, and 
cat may be found living together in the same 
body with those of the sheep, elephant, dog, and 
monkey; making themselves recognizable according 
to their prominence, not alone within the person, 
but likewise in his exterior, especially in the face. 

Also is the human body finer in texture than 
that of any animal : increased complexity of 
mind demands and produces a finer cerebral 
structure, and this, in turn, forms a superior 
nervous system throughout the body, refining the 
various organs through increasing their sensibility. 
Thus also is the human skin, where these finer 
nerves terminate, rendered more susceptible, 
more delicate. 

Now, however, we perceive that there are some 
prominent features of the animal-body not present 
in the human : there are neither fins, wings, nor 
tail. Why are these missing? Respecting the 
first named, we know that these serve the fish as 
propellers merely, adjusted to the nature of the 
element in which it lives. The limbs of the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 73 

human body enable this to move through the 
same element ; but this body is not designed for 
life within the same ; nor is it endowed with inde- 
pendent powers of locomotion through the atmos- 
phere ; — it is restricted to life on the solid soil. 
Why ? We find that the animals living on land 
are more complex in the development of their 
faculties ; they are more powerful of influence 
than either fish or fowl. Therefore they have 
the controlling power in the choice of the element 
which is to be the home of the common body. 
They determine the body with respect also to its 
form: Four limbs is the number required by the 
higher species of animal as well as by the bird. 
Two of these limbs must be legs with feet, the 
other two, arms with hands ; this is the result of 
the compromise between the monkey and these 
other animals. The fish, being by reason of their 
weaker life in the darker element, the lowest in 
the scale, are, of course, represented accordingly ; 
still, this body has at least some little facility for 
moving in their element. The birds, however, 
are, so far as their peculiar mode of locomotion is 
concerned, not considered at all ; the human 
body, like their own, moves about on two feet, 
and in their element ; but independent rising 
above the ground is denied. We may find a rea- 



74 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

son for this : When we examine the nature and 
life of the bird in general, we observe that the 
power of flight is, in itself, not so much an object 
of the animal's desire as at first glance appears. 
Its body being lighter, and therefore weaker of 
resistance than those of other animals, the bird is 
not alone impelled, but also empowered, to make 
itself less easily approachable ; and the way in 
which it does this, is by making itself independ- 
ent of a hold upon the ground, so that it may at 
any time get beyond the reach of the heavier 
animals by rising into the air. The faculties 
of the bird-soul are not awakened to such a 
degree that it desires the power of flight for pleas- 
ures such as this manner of motion would contain 
for us. The bird does not care for the beautiful 
and sublime in scenery as we do ; nor does it 
appreciate much the swiftness of its flight. The 
swiftness of the bird is caused by the nature of 
its body and environment. How little the animal 
cares for the pleasures to be found in this kind of 
motion, is evidenced by the generally low degree 
of development in the uncultivated human being 
of the faculty of sublimity. The desire for 
expressing itself through the medium of song 
is, perhaps, the principal distinguishing feature 
by which the bird-nature is represented in the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 75 

human ; and the organs required for the gratifica- 
tion of this desire, the sense of music, are present 
accordingly. We find that the bird really has 
no impulses which may not be gratified by the 
human body in its present form; thus the power 
of flight is denied to this body for the reason 
merely that on the human plane of life there has 
as yet been no general call of necessity for that 
faculty. 

Now remains the question, "Why is that, 
which, in the animal, is so important a feature, 
namely, the tail, not present?" Here also we 
may find' the answer while observing the reason 
why there is no necessity for the same. We 
know that in the animal-world the tail serves pre- 
eminently as guard and protector in otherwise 
neglected parts. Now, the human body, by rea- 
son of its vertical position, is never so exposed in 
the back parts as the animal. Besides, the human 
head is more favorably situated for quickly turn- 
ing about in all directions. In addition to these 
advantages, the mind within has the power and 
the organs for contriving all manner of artificial 
guard and defense, which are denied to the ani- 
mal. We can thus find no cause whatever for 
the presence of such a feature on the human 
form. The tail remains excluded from the same 



j6 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

through the absence of a call of necessity ; and 
where such a feature should ever apparently come 
forth on human beings, it could be only in the 
form of a so-called freak of Nature, not con- 
structed in accordance with the distinctive qual- 
ities of the real tail, and therefore not to be 
considered as being one. 

Having thus made ourselves acquainted with the 
general character of the human body, we will now 
turn our attention to the soul. 



CHAPTER X. 

CONSTITUTION OF THE HUMAN SOUL J ORIGIN 
OF THE RACES. 

Thus far we have observed but the separate 
elements of life; we have, so to speak, studied 
the great language of the Spirit with reference 
merely to its alphabet and vocabulary. Is the 
human soul great enough to understand its own 
existence ? — to read the thoughts expressed by 
the Spirit on the high plane of human life ? Let 
us try. 

Before we proceed, however, to enter this 
higher sphere, a most important question occurs 
to us, " Does the Spirit, while blending the 
animal-souls to form the human, add anything to 
the character of their life-vibration, or is this 
brighter spark of life entirely the result of this 
union?" Our personal sense can never tell us; 
for the question touches upon the sours inner- 
most nature. We must attempt a view through 
the eye of the Spirit : While observing the man- 
ner in which the primitive stage of life originates, 



78 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

we saw how the various elementary substances 
are combined through the medium of the sun- 
beam into a variety of organisms. In thus unit- 
ing these elements and permeating them with its 
life the Spirit gives to them a signification, some- 
what as we, through forming words, give sense to 
the letters of our alphabet. Each of these organ- 
isms on the vegetable plane, as we have seen, is 
the symbol of a certain trait of character, — the 
reflection of a "word." The Spirit introduces 
into these mere pictures of character the idea of 
motion : they come to life in the life of the ani- 
mal ; — thus the Spirit's ideal "words" become 
realities. Then we saw how these traits must 
remain separated from one another in the various 
species. However, they are all of the same great 
Spirit, which has created them for a certain higher 
purpose : As we form our words for the special 
purpose of using them in our sentences ; so does 
the Spirit give separate life to the various traits 
of character, in order that it may form combina- 
tions of them for expression of its higher, more 
complicated ideas on the plane of human life. 
We know that the thoughts which we desire to 
express in our sentences, require for their appear- 
ance as realities nothing more than that the words 
forming these sentences be well chosen and 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 79 

placed in their proper order. We may suppose 
that likewise the Spirit demonstrates its ideas in 
the form of human life without putting anything 
further into the combinations which it makes of 
the various animal-souls, than the force of the 
ideas themselves. That which effects and main- 
tains these combinations, we have already recog- 
nized as being the desire of the Spirit for superior 
harmony. 

In looking about in the world of human beings, 
we see that these are divided into a number of 
different species, or races. Did these originally 
come forth out of one family and in one locality, 
or, like the various plant and animal species, from 
different germs and in different countries ? 

Upon closer observation of the life on the lower 
planes we find that a vast number of plant and 
animal species ever remain confined to certain 
localities, — so strictly so that, if they were placed 
in environments of a nature different from that 
of their own, they would die out. The reason is, 
of course, to be found in the marked differences 
maintained between the various regions with 
respect to climate, character of soil, and the 
many other conditions in the midst of which the 
organisms find their birth and means of suste- 
nance. It is quite evident that each species can 



80 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

have made its first appearance in that kind of 
locality alone to which it remains thus confined. 
Now, in observing the manner in which the 
human races are distributed over the Earth, we 
note that during these many ages they, too, have 
remained each established in a region of its own 
as firmly almost as a plant remains rooted to its 
piece of soil. For thousands of years there has 
been comparatively little mingling among them. 
Although races may spread beyond the limits of 
their respective countries, each nevertheless still 
holds dear the land in which it passed its child- 
hood. It appears,, moreover, that even with a 
perfect intermingling of the races an amalgama- 
tion into one could never come about, by reason 
of the too pronounced difference between their 
physical characteristics. Each race, like the indi- 
vidual creature, lives its allotted time and then 
passes away. Thus, in the course of evolution 
a multitude of races in all regions have succeeded 
one another, each in turn eventually giving up its 
home on Earth to another that was at the time 
possessed of greater vitality. 

Now, we see that the body of man contains 
the same earthly substance as that of animal and 
plant ; it is therefore also subject to the same 
law. Thus we may be justified in taking for 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 61 

granted that, as the difference existing between 
the natures of the various localities at the time 
of the first appearance of Life caused a separate 
coming-forth of various plant and animal species, 
so likewise the human life made its first appearance 
on Earth in the form of a variety of races, each 
coming forth independently of the others, in a 
different locality, and from a different germ. 

Difference in body, as we know, means differ- 
ence in soul ; and, indeed, our races differ widely 
as to the character of soul in the individuals 
representing them. Let us make a few observa- 
tions bearing upon this point : Consider, for 
instance, the mental constitution of the average 
Negro in his original state. The proportions in 
which his faculties stand to one another show as 
plainly in the shape of his head, and in the form 
and expression of his features, as they do in his 
manner of life. By far the larger part of his 
brain lies in the back part of his head. His 
propensities, all strongly present, are preeminently 
under the influence of the social feelings. Socia- 
bility, being the strongest of his higher impulses, 
therefore determines the nature of his whole 
existence. He delights in the society of his 
fellows, because he has a strong instinctive per- 
ception of the pleasures arising from harmonious 



82 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

intercourse. Perceiving and cultivating harmony 
is, as we are aware, equivalent to cultivating a 
happy disposition, a light heart. The Negro 
certainly has this, and he shows it in the expres- 
sion of his face. The state of the soul determines 
not only the tone of the voice, but also the 
activity of the faculties pertaining to music; and 
thus we find the Negro generally to be the 
possessor of an agreeable voice combined with 
high musical ability. All the faculties which are 
the immediate outgrowths of social life are, in the 
Negro, well developed. The desire to venerate, 
the love of praise, suavity, mirthfulness, the 
faculties of imitation, faith, hope, memory, and 
the power of language, — all these are prominent 
characteristics ; while, on the other hand, in the 
faculties which grow out of a life more laborious, 
more devoted to stern duty, he proves in many 
respects to be deficient. 

Entirely different proportions do we find in the 
original North American Indian. The head of the 
latter is less developed in the region of the social 
organs ; but, instead, it is broader in the purely 
selfish propensities, higher in the back part of the 
crown, and fuller in the region of the intellect. 
His propensities are less dominated by the social 
faculties than are those of the Negro ; he perceives 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 83 

less of harmony ; his greater destructiveness, 
firmness and self-esteem make of him a sterner 
being. In consequence, the expression on his 
face is that of severity. In his mind, mirthfulness 
and music find little room. Being more secretive, 
more self-contained, he has less use also for the 
power of language. His life being more laborious 
than that of the Negro, his intellectual faculties 
in general are more strongly developed than are 
those of the latter. All in all, the Indian is more 
conscious of self and, at the same time, less happy. 

A more perfect proportion in the development 
of the faculties is to be found in the Malayan, 
and especially in the Mongolian race. Both of 
these show a higher moral as well as intellectual 
power. The Malayan, by reason of living in a 
warmer, friendlier climate, possesses a more 
careless disposition than we find in the Mongolian, 
who is forced by the severer climate to labor. 
But the same conditions which require a higher 
mental activity, also help to generate the strength 
for its endurance : alternation between warm and 
cold seasons invigorates the nervous system. 
Thus, the Mongolian is superior to the Malayan 
as well as to the other two races. 

We have now to consider the race most 
advanced of all, the Caucasian. This, we find, 



84 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

distinguishes itself from the rest through repre- 
senting the greatest variety of characters. It is 
the most complicated of the Spirit's expressions 
in the form of man. In this race are united all 
the mental characteristics in as high a degree of 
development as that in which they are to be found 
separately in each of the others ; and therefore it 
is qualified for attaining, with respect both to its 
individual members and to the race as a body, 
the highest degree of evolution possible to man 
on Earth. For this reason, and because this is 
the race to which our personalities belong, we 
will make its life the prominent object of our 
attention. 



CHAPTER XI. 

UNFOLDMENT OF THE HUMAN SOUL IN THE LIFE 
OF THE COMMUNITY. 

We find here every possible trait of character, 
from the lowest to the highest, personated by- 
some one or more individuals. No two souls are 
alike, and no two physical bodies. According to 
which of the animal-souls in each case predomi- 
nates, may we recognize in the personal features 
and general bearing the character of dog or cat, 
hog or fox, goose or eagle, and so on through the 
line. One of the factors most generally repre- 
sented is, for instance, the dog-soul. This is evi- 
denced, not alone in the friendly feelings between 
man and dog, but also in the opposite, in cases of 
hydrophobia : Though a man be not even touched 
by the dog, still it will happen that he develops 
all the symptoms of the dog's disease; barking 
and snapping like the dog itself. It is plain that 
this man could not, in his unconscious condition, 
so perfectly imitate the animal, if the dog-soul 
were not present within himself. This dog-soul 
in the human required merely to be aroused by 



86 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

the kind of incident which, in its life on the 
higher plane, so strongly appeals to its sympa- 
thies. It then, for the time being, becomes in a 
certain respect disconnected from its union with 
the other souls, and thus its excitement brings it 
into fearful prominence. 

We have already, while studying the animal- 
world, seen how the various faculties originally 
came into life, and how their further evolution on 
that plane is arrested by reason of their isolation 
in the different species. Here, in the human 
world, we see the faculties united in the bodies 
and free to intermingle. We note that the 
human soul, even in its primitive stages of devel- 
opment, is vastly more conscious of existence 
than is the animal ; for, the impulse towards self- 
preservation existent in the various animal-souls 
has become united in one soul, and this increased 
love of life now calls for a greater activity among 
all the higher faculties. They must now all exert 
themselves in the interest of a common cause : 
the preservation of life in human form. We will 
observe how they help man in his efforts to rise 
out of the primitive stage in which he first makes 
his appearance. 

By reason of his higher nature, he comes forth 
in the bosom of the family. However, he per- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 8? 

ceives himself surrounded, like the beings on the 
plane below, by every kind of enemy, beasts of 
prey, and many other influences hostile to his 
existence. But he also finds in close vicinity, 
besides the members of his family, other fellow- 
beings of the same nature as his own ; and, in 
obedience to the law of affinity, he combines with 
these against the common enemy. Thus, several 
families together form a primitive society, a tribe, 
placing themselves under the guardianship of a 
chief. Now the intellect calls the hands to work : 
homes are constructed. The body of man, being 
weaker than that of the animal, must be provided 
with artificial means of both attack and defense ; 
the effect of a blow is increased through adding 
to the swing of the arm the length of a stick, a 
club, with the heaviest end toward the enemy. 
The tender skin is protected by a piece from the 
hide of an animal. Then follows the discovery 
that better success is attainable through making 
of this hide a shield, and thus employing simulta- 
neously one arm in the attack and the other in 
the defense. The combined intellect observes 
the effects, remembers experiences, analyzes facts, 
reconstructs their relations to one another, and so 
arrives at the conception of new ideas. Thus, 
the next in line is the discovery of means by 



88 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

which to kill the enemy from a distance ; spears, 
and bows and arrows are invented. The safety 
of his existence becoming more and more firmly 
established, man's attention is now attracted also 
toward bodily comforts ; the hands find employ- 
ment in the manufacture of various household 
articles ; materials are found which suggest to 
him the idea of woven dress. The skillfulness of 
the hands, through exercise, grows in step with 
the power of the intellect to perceive and to con- 
trive. Each invention gives rise to another, and 
the hands are ready to materialize the idea. The 
refinement of the intellectual powers enables him 
to perceive certain harmonies in the surrounding 
World which remain hidden to the senses of the 
animal ; and as the skill of his hands grows more 
perfect, he begins to give expression to the pleas- 
ure which he receives from these finer percep- 
tions, by imitating the beauties of Nature in his 
works : he embellishes that which he makes, and 
forms images. He gradually becomes acquainted 
also with the laws that govern the harmony of 
sound. From merely imitating Nature's harmo- 
nies, he proceeds to place them in new relation- 
ships with one another ; he creates new forms, 
and thus his powers of invention find their 
expression also in the various branches of art. 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 89 

While the mind is thus employed in securing 
safety and comfort to the body, and providing all 
manner of enjoyments for the senses, it must 
likewise see to the safety of the articles thus pro- 
duced. The natural result is, that the primitive 
laws, such as we find governing the herds and 
flocks in the animal-world, are, in this human 
society, extended beyond the individual to the 
protection of his personal property. Each of 
these individuals desires to enjoy the fruits of his 
labors in person. Perceiving the wholesome 
effect of the laws which secure protection to him- 
self and his family, he feels encouraged to come to a 
mutual understanding with his fellows in regard 
to all his other belongings. The more harmony 
there is in a community, the more security for 
each member. Thus, each pledges himself to 
respect the property of his fellows, and to recog- 
nize the justice of all penalties attached to trans- 
gressions ; each member himself helps to make 
the law. In this manner is awakened to higher 
activity the sense of conscientiousness. Now, 
where there is law, there must be also a power to 
guard and execute the same : certain individuals 
are chosen to act as officers under the chief ; they 
are vested with authority over others. Thus is 
nourished the faculty of ambition. 



90 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

As the community grows and as its individual 
harmony, as well as that with other communities, 
becomes more and more firmly established, we 
see the supreme authority more and more gener- 
ally accorded to the body of moral sentiments : 
the finer voice is heard above the coarser. Mean- 
while the intellect continues in its occupation of 
contriving new and better employment for the 
hands ; and each generation transmits to the fol- 
lowing one the powers thus evolved. In conse- 
quence, also the amount of property grows, and, 
by reason of the inequality in the development 
of the individuals, becomes unevenly divided. 
Thus, from generation to generation the manifold 
contrasts between the inner and outer conditions 
of the several families become more marked, and 
distinct classes form, the various families slowly, 
or sometimes suddenly, moving from one class of 
life into the other. This manifold change of con- 
trasts, this condition of perpetual motion, has the 
effect of still more enlivening both the intellect- 
ual faculties and the moral sentiments of all con- 
cerned. Care and lightness of heart, melancholy 
and mirthfulness, come to the individual in mani- 
fold degree and form. Thus, the high sentiments 
of faith and hope and charity, which are the great 
harmonizers in the human world, receive abun- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 9 1 

dant opportunities for coming forth to demon- 
strate the natural brotherhood of all mankind. 
Finally, as all the faculties become more and more 
awake to the true nature of existence, learning to 
distinguish the changeable from the unchange- 
able, the personal from the universal, man gradu- 
ally becomes aware of that to which he owes his 
reverence. He begins to sense more clearly the 
presence of the Spirit, the Father of all, and so 
his faculty of veneration, which, at first, could 
address itself to the personal, the perishable, only, 
now becomes empowered to help him rise into 
conscious communication with the eternal, the 
Creator himself. 

In taking a general view of the manner in 
which the faculties evolve on the human plane, 
we observe that their unfoldment is effected 
chiefly by means of the communication which 
they establish among the individual souls. They 
learn to communicate, not alone through the 
medium of language and material contrivances, 
but likewise through the direct action of soul 
upon soul. While the plant gives evidence of its 
being through its vibrations of odor, and the 
animal has acquired power over those of sound, 
the human being learns to command the fine 
vibrations of thought and feeling. Our study of 



92 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

the life on the lower planes has shown us that 
the soul of plant and animal reaches beyond 
the body and receives impressions. Man's soul 
acquires the power, not only of receiving knowl- 
edge in this manner, but also of impressing its 
thought upon others, independently of distance 
and physical means. This power of thought- 
transference has evolved in the human world as a 
result of the higher activity and the more com- 
plicated harmony existing among the various indi- 
vidual souls. There is present, not alone the 
desire to receive, but also the will to impress. 
We may compare the human beings in this respect 
to the stringed instruments : each instrument 
transmits its vibrations to every one of the others 
which is within reach of the sound-vibrations and 
harmonizes with the same. Now, we have seen 
that the soul is independent of both' locality and 
substance. Therefore, in so far as there exists a 
likeness, or an affinity, between souls, however 
far their bodies may be apart, the vibrations of 
each of these souls will immediately be felt by 
the others also. Where the power of will is 
strong in one, and the receptivity great in another, 
there we may find taking place a transmission of 
thought and feeling, effected alone by the power 
of will. We see that this transmission often 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 93 

proves to be so perfect as to excite to action 
the physical senses of the recipient: it happens 
that persons make themselves unexpectedly appar- 
ent to the eye and ear, and senses in general, 
of others who are at that moment thousands of 
miles away. 

We further observe that the power of soul- 
vibration is not alone thus independent of sub- 
stance, but that it may even temporarily alter the 
relations between objects, as, for instance, the 
hypnotizer does when, by mere will-power, he 
invests weak objects with superior strength, and 
in the same way increases or reduces their weight. 
It is plain that from such a changing of relations 
between substances to the feat of combining 
these to form new objects, also by direct soul- 
power, is only a step. The Universe consisting in 
nothing but vibrations, the soul acquires its power 
over mind and matter through bringing its own 
vibrative force into a certain harmony with that 
upon which it wants to act ; its power evolves 
solely through this kind of effort. Everywhere 
we find expressed the necessity of harmonious 
action. The Spirit demonstrates this to us on 
every plane of existence. Each higher plane 
comes forth through the introduction of an idea 
designed to increase the harmonious intercourse 



94 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

of forces. Thus we have seen how the life in 
each higher sphere becomes more complicated, 
more pronounced, more powerful, as the forces of 
the lower faculties become more closely united 
with those of the higher, forming with these a 
better harmony, through which they are lifted out 
of the lower plane to serve on the higher. As 
the lower faculties constitute the impulse of self- 
preservation, we readily understand why the 
unfoldment of life remains so strictly conditioned 
upon the evolution of this impulse. . And each 
plane stands as a well-defined creation, although 
dependent for its existence upon those below, yet, 
within itself, remaining forever intact. In each 
we may find reflected in a certain form the like- 
ness of all ; for we can find in the Universe no 
two things that do not in some respect allow com- 
parison. In this we are shown how they all- 
together are the emanations of but the one Spirit, 
which brings them forth for one another to form 
one harmonious being. As we look, for instance, 
upon the manifold life on our human plane, as 
shown in a civilized community, and observe the 
innumerable forms of individual occupation, from 
that of mere manual labor to that of invention 
and art, from that of distributing the goods of 
Earth to that of dispensing the heavenly; as 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 95 

we see how the community thus provides itself 
with its requirements from all directions, below 
and above, gathering-in both the material and the 
spiritual, we truly find reflected there the harmo- 
nious life of the blooming plant : There are the 
roots, which secure the earthly substance ; this is, 
through the stem, conveyed into all the different 
parts ; while the leaves must help to insure a 
healthy development. Thus invigorated and puri- 
fied, the plant may then evolve its beautiful 
flower. This, in turn, unfolding toward the Sun, 
drinks in the rays of light and warmth ; and as 
this blossom imparts their life to the seed within 
its care, the plant becomes enabled to insure the 
maintenance and further evolution of its species. 

Having, by means of the observations so far 
made, obtained an idea of the manner in which 
our Earth evolves the faculties from their symbol- 
ical appearance in the plant to their life in the 
human-being, let us now take a step nearer and 
observe the fate which they bring to the individ- 
ual creature. 



CHAPTER XII. 

FATE, WITH REGARD TO PLANT AND ANIMAL. 

Our observations have shown us that all the 
various forms of life with which we are surrounded 
are, so to speak, a spectrum of the Spirit, appear- 
ing upon the surface of the Earth as a refraction 
of the Sun's rays through planetary substance. 
We have seen that the great Spirit, by itself, is 
but the Principle, the Law ; and that the world of 
souls is the demonstration of its being. The 
Spirit appears as the one great Law of life ; and 
life, as we know, is but another word for feeling. 
Thus we are aware that the one and only object 
of the Spirit consists in the evolution of feeling. 
This latter, therefore, must form the central object 
of our present attention. 

We find, while looking into the activity on the 
first stage of soul-existence, the vegetable plane, 
that, in the plant, consciousness of life, or feel- 
ing, can not much exceed that degree which is 
necessary for impelling the creature to maintain 
merely the life of itself and its species. However, 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 97 

the various movements within the body of the 
plant must surely be accompanied by pleasurable 
feelings to some degree, be they ever so instinct- 
ive. What else would induce, for instance, the 
germ of the rose to drive a root into the ground, 
and at the same time to send a shoot out of the 
darkness through the solid earth above ? what 
could impel it to the effort of overcoming the 
great law of gravitation so as to reach the day- 
light, if it be not the instinctive knowledge that 
its wants shall be gratified when it succeeds ? 
When, at last, the Sun opens the buds which it 
turns up to him, the sweet odor of its blossom is 
surely recognizable as an evidence of a certain 
feeling of gratification pervading the plant. The 
soul of the plant is, however, still a very weak 
one. The plant can retain within its own body 
but a small portion of the life-vibrations coming 
to it ; the rest must be provided with separate 
bodies. Thus we see it contrive all the require- 
ments for the process of reproduction ; it would 
not do this, if there were not a desire present ; 
and desire implies feeling. 

But now we see that the tranquil life of the 
plant is not all gratification ; we see great num- 
bers maimed and destroyed. The plant is subject 
to the desire of the higher creatures as well as to 



98 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

the destructive influence of the elements; and 
thus, where gratification brought pleasure, the 
reverse produces pain. As much capacity as 
there is for the one kind of sensation, will there, 
of course, also be for the other. However small 
this sensation may seem to be to us, still, the 
plant feels it ; and here a question arises in our 
minds, " Why should a harmless plant, even 
though it be only a plant, meet with an adverse 
fate and come to grief, — and why is a distinction 
made, by which some are left to grow in size and 
beauty, and eventually to die the peaceful death 
of ripe old age, while to others all this is denied ? " 
Nature must certainly contain an answer to this 
question somewhere; for the Spirit must be as 
just as it is strict. 

We will proceed, and look into the fate of the 
animal : Where there is more life, there is also 
more to lose. The animal, being more conscious 
of its existence, makes greater efforts at preserv- 
ing the same. Its life being more manifold, it 
experiences more desires, has more power of feel- 
ing. In the lower species there can, of course, 
be little difference between the feeling of an 
animal and that of a plant. Power of feeling, as 
we know, increases with development of soul. 
And see what contrasts are to be found between 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 99 

pleasure and pain among the higher species ! 
Here, where the desire for self-preservation is 
sufficiently pronounced to show clearly the sepa- 
rate promptings of all its elements, namely, the 
propensities, we may observe how the power of 
feeling becomes diversified. The life of the mov- 
ing creature causes suddenness as well as variety 
of experience : the propensities are impelled to 
separate activity. Of the desires to eat, drink, 
reproduce, etc., each has its time of gratification 
apart from that of the others : The lion prowls 
about for prey ; he is moved by a desire. Corning 
upon an animal, he enters a fight, and his pro- 
pensity to destroy becomes gratified. Rejoicing 
in his own grim way, he brings his victim to his 
mate and young, which are waiting for it in his 
cave ; then the cravings for food are stilled ; and 
that done, there may follow a period of rest and 
enjoyment in the home circle. 

But, as we know, it may just as easily come 
otherwise; the animal is subject to the desires of 
others as well as to its own. Thus it happens 
that this lion loses his mate and cubs; that he 
himself is wounded, deprived of his home and 
wonted liberty ; or, he may be destroyed by vio- 
lence. His pain must at such times be as great 
as were his pleasurable feelings during the periods 



IOO A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

of good fortune ; and the indulgence of his vari- 
ous bodily impulses was, after all, in vain. Like 
the plant, he comes to grief. From general 
observation we come to the conclusion that the 
feelings which have their source in the animal's 
concern for self and kind, though pleasurable to 
the creature at the moments of their gratification, 
are otherwise always painful, and always ready to 
assume the character of instinctive, though well- 
grounded, fear that somehow there will be enforced 
a payment for these various enjoyments which are 
had at foreign expense. 

How is it with regard to the feelings arising 
from the higher faculties, the affections reaching 
beyond the animal's personality and species ? 
Let us consider, for instance, the feelings of the 
dog : This creature lives in an environment some- 
what removed from the dangers which generally 
threaten the world of animals ; it is relieved of 
much of the anxiety which prevails there con- 
cerning the preservation of the body. Its inter- 
est is therefore permitted in a degree to go out 
into the life surrounding, to manifest itself in the 
nature of sociability : the dog cultivates friend- 
ships with animals of other species. The natural 
development of its higher faculties, however, 
attracts it with superior power to the sphere of 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. IOI 

man ; and, moreover, instinctively recognizing 
how prominently the soul of its own kind is rep- 
resented in the human being, all its higher feel- 
ings concentrate around its relationship with him. 
Leaving out of consideration the lower feelings, 
which it shares with all the other animals, we will 
observe those derived from its higher faculties 
alone. That which so firmly binds the soul of 
the noble dog to that of man is, as we see, the 
sentiment of veneration. The dog's instinctive 
perception of the superiority of the human nature 
to its own, together with its strong desire for cul- 
tivating friendliness in superior quarters, leads it 
to regard man, not only as the superior being, but 
likewise as the trustworthy friend. Its confidence 
expresses itself in its reverence. How otherwise 
could it, notwithstanding its oftentimes far supe- 
rior strength, so patiently endure painful abuses 
heaped upon it by the objects of its worship ? 
We see that in the consideration of the dog the 
bodily force of the human being has compara- 
tively little part ; for the animal often voluntarily 
obeys the child, while disregarding the authority 
of the man. The animal makes such clear dis- 
tinctions between likes and dislikes, that, if we 
did not already know that the dog has a soul, this 
observation alone would be sufficient to convince 



102 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

us of the fact ; we see that it is soul-power which 
moves the creature. 

Now, its reverence desires also to make itself 
manifest ; the dog is eager to show the same in 
making of itself the willing servant. It watches 
the effect of its endeavors and is delighted at its 
master's kind approval. This gives evidence of 
the drift of the creature's ambition. This feeling 
acts upon its conscientiousness, and thereby we 
are shown how keenly the dog is appreciative of 
the harmony existing between itself and its mas- 
ter. And it is the power of this feeling, which, 
on occasions, prompts the animal to raise its 
benevolence even to the degree of self-sacrifice. 
Altogether, it appears that the exercise of these 
higher faculties, under favorable conditions, pro- 
duces in the soul of the dog a degree of pleasur- 
able feeling far above that attained by many 
a human being. As a result, we find this dog 
to be a light-hearted creature, almost always 
ready for exchange of pleasantries with its fellows 
and superiors. A like condition is noticeable 
in various other highly developed species, for 
instance, in the horse. 

But now we have to consider this wealth of 
feeling-power also as it appears when ungratified. 
Let the dog lose its home and playmates ; deprive 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 103 

it of their good will, and see how it suffers ! Let 
it be taken from its master, and observe what 
painful efforts it makes to find him again. Let 
its master die ; and the faithful dog sits by the 
grave and, wailing, starves until it also dies ! Its 
grief makes it oblivious of all else, and thus indi- 
cates to what a high degree the creature has been 
happy. Why should noble sentiment meet with 
such an end ? 

In looking about in the world of animals and 
taking note of the variety of fates to which the 
individual creatures are subject, we find the con- 
ditions there to be distributed as promiscuously 
as they are on the plane below, only in greater 
variety and contrast ; while the ultimate attain- 
ment of every animal, as well as that of every 
plant, appears to be nothing beyond annihilation. 
We will, then, leave the animal plane and look 
into the fate of the individual in our own sphere, 
the human. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

VARIETY OF FATES AND CHARACTERS ON THE 
HUMAN PLANE. 

Our purpose does not require that we travel 
about among all the races of the Earth ; for, in 
our own civilized community are to be found all 
the various kinds of fate, all the contrasts between 
the different feelings which the great Spirit ever 
demonstrates in the form of human life. 

In this higher world of motion we find as many 
different fates as there are souls to live through 
them. Although the human souls are all combi- 
nations of the animal characteristics, we find, 
nevertheless, also on our plane individual repre- 
sentations of each of the propensities in separate. 
We find one person given up almost entirely to 
the impulse of acquisition ; he is the personifica- 
tion of greed. Another is dominated altogether 
by the propensity to destroy ; a third, by some 
other animal desire, and so forth ; each propensity 
is almost the exclusive owner of a number of 
lives ; and these being human souls, its manifest- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. IO5 

ation through them is, of course, vastly more 
pronounced than it could be on the lower plane. 
So, also, is the character of the consequent fate 
more clearly defined with respect to details. 
These lives are caused chiefly by the aggravating 
influences which sometimes gather in superior 
strength about a certain individual and his family, 
promoting the activity of the lower faculties, 
while at the same time impeding the development 
of the higher. They are the boundary-marks of 
human life in the direction of darkness. 

Likewise do we find the higher traits each rep- 
resented in certain souls in such prominent degree 
as to be practically the master of the individual. 
Thus, we know of instances v/here the desire for 
friendship is so pronounced that the death of the 
one friend means also the death of the other. 
Love of home, desire for praise, the higher moral 
sentiments, as, for instance, veneration, benevo- 
lence, conscientiousness, etc., are each almost the 
sole owner of a number of persons. In a third 
direction, we meet with those in whom the all- 
powerful voice is given to the separate faculties 
of the intellect : One will sacrifice all his feelings 
to his love of art ; another lives only for the pur- 
suit of some branch of science. Each of these 
human souls, in its singleness of purpose, goes 



I06 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

out into the world of life to establish with all the 
powers at its command the boundary-mark, or 
outside limit, of a single faculty. Thus does the 
Spirit extend in all directions the conscious life of 
the community as a whole ; and this remains ever 
intact, because each phase of life is always to be 
found somewhere represented by some one or 
more individuals. 

The contemplation of these various feelings in 
their extremes aids us in forming the true esti- 
mate of their relative values. We have observed 
their effect upon the animals and know it also 
from personal experience. We find that the fac- 
ulties exert the same kind of influence on our 
plane that characterizes them on the lower; the 
feelings which they give rise to are merely intensi- 
fied : First, our body, being more refined, enjoys 
a higher degree of pleasurable feeling ; but it is 
also more easily hurt and possesses greater capac- 
ity for suffering. The nerves which watch over 
the safety of the human body are necessarily 
more alive to report whatever disturbance may 
come to any part. Thus our body must pay for 
the refinement of its pleasurable feelings with an 
increased susceptibility to pain. Then, the pro- 
pensities pertaining to the bodily functions cause 
in the one direction a higher degree of enjoy- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 107 

ment ; in the other, greater misery. For, that 
which they seek to gratify is not the body of a 
simple animal soul, but that of a human. Like- 
wise the social and all the other higher and lower 
desires in the interest of the self must cause 
increased intensity of feeling in both directions ; 
for they are human ; they pertain to the human 
world and to all that comes forth therein. 

Now, we have long ago observed that the world 
of creatures is an inseparable part of the world 
of substance. This, we have seen, is created for 
the particular purpose of demonstrating changes 
in relationships. All creatures dependent upon 
the world of substance are compelled to share its 
destiny : that of an everlasting state of warfare, 
in which they all must find their place and also 
their destruction. All things in this world of 
strife that are dear to us, are liable at any moment 
to be taken from us, — and the pleasure of pos- 
session turns into the pain of loss. All earthly 
bonds of soul and body are destined at some time 
to be cut in two ; and thus, in looking about at 
all the human lives which people our Earth, we 
become aware that in their midst are at every 
moment represented all the various kinds of feel- 
ing, from the highest happiness of which man is 
capable down to his deepest misery. We see that 



108 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

the Spirit demonstrates its contrasts of life as 
things of simultaneous existence. Now we ask, 
" How are these conditions of the soul divided 
among the individuals ? " A single glance shows 
us that there is as great a variety of contrast pre- 
vailing between the fates of the entire lives as 
there is between the contents of the moments. 
Not alone are the powers of life, or feeling, 
unequally distributed, but likewise the opportuni- 
ties for their gratification : One has all the powers 
of feeling which happiness requires, but cannot 
enjoy for want of the proper chance ; another is 
favored with opportunities, but lacks the powers 
of feeling ; a third is happy in the possession of 
both ; a fourth, again, is not blessed with either, 
and his life passes away as one long, gloomy 
shadow. Then we see how the lives differ in 
respect to their duration. 

Man naturally pins his happiness to the gratifi- 
cation of his desires, of whichever kind these may 
be; and when either his body or soul is, through 
adverse influences, disturbed in the activity pecu- 
liar to his nature, he finds himself in pain. Is 
the happy or unhappy fate of man his own mak- 
ing, or does it depend on influences beyond his 
power ? On close observation we find that every 
life is shaped at the same time from within and 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. IO9 

without. Each person simultaneously moves and 
is moved. Each one presses onward in the direc- 
tion of his individual preference, and each one's 
course must likewise suffer constant alteration by 
the motions of the World surrounding. Fortune, 
the all-powerful creature, which moves along 
through the well-connected chain of the World's 
events, thus leads one person through a life of 
pleasure to a peaceful death, and another through 
the very opposite to end in agony. 

Now we ask, "Do these various fates come 
to the respective individuals deservedly?" A 
comparison between the fates and the characters 
which experience the same makes it apparent to 
us that the former are never precisely in accord 
with the latter ; indeed, the two appear to us as 
being often widely inconsistent with each other. 
In our estimation of the proper course of justice, 
the person who is the most active in the interest 
of his fellow-beings should be the one most kindly 
treated ; while the one who proceeds in the oppo- 
site direction should in every instance meet dis- 
aster. And yet, how many a noble act brings 
misery upon the doer, and how often does a self- 
ish deed return to whence it came, apparently not 
in the form of punishment, but rich reward ! So 
may a man through sheer wickedness acquire for- 



IIO A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

tune and a powerful position, be an oppressor of 
the poor, squander the substance which he steals 
from others, in the gratification of his animal 
desires, — and yet be smiled upon by Fortune 
and an extensive circle of applauding friends. 
His is but the undeveloped animal-soul having at 
its command a human body and a human intellect. 
His conscience is but small, and therefore cannot 
trouble him in just proportion to the degree in 
which he troubles others. His life may even find 
a painless end. So, on the other hand, may one 
whose very virtues hinder him from rising in the 
World, who, moreover, sacrifices the little that he 
has to the good of others, — be condemned to 
suffer a life of misery and persecution, and to 
ultimately end in poverty and pain, forsaken by 
the world of fellow-beings even long before he is 
allowed to die. Between these two extremes of 
worldly fortune we find distributed the multitude 
of contrasts in reward and punishment for good 
and evil : As the Sun shines equally upon the just 
and the unjust, so may fall upon them both the 
shadow of misfortune. Moreover, we cannot 
close our eyes to the discovery, that, even if the 
individuals were able to insure the acquisition of 
the worldly favors through nobility of conduct, 
these goods would still remain beyond the reach 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. I I I 

of many ; for, the chances of developing the 
necessary character are unevenly divided. Let 
us consider this fact for a moment. 

We have seen how the Spirit evolves the facul- 
ties of man by means of the three principles : 
Space, Substance, and Motion. These three are 
as indispensable on one plane of existence as they 
are on the other ; neither of them can come forth 
anywhere without the other two being present 
also. Character is the outcome of the relations 
existing between the various faculties. It is thus 
the product of the three principles. Viewing it 
in the sense of being an object under considera- 
tion, we may here regard it as constituting the 
substance ; it follows that the appearance and 
development of this object require motion, exer- 
cise, as well as a space, a sphere, in which to 
move. Have all characters a like supply of these 
three essentials ? Of the various kinds of occu- 
pation in the community each requires a superior 
exercise of a certain set of faculties to a cor- 
responding neglect of the others. While, for 
instance, the occupation of the business man 
tends to increase the activity in the faculties of 
acquisitiveness and secretiveness in preference to 
those of veneration and spirituality, the vocation 
of the preacher is calculated for an effect directly 



112 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

the reverse. The one occupation is as necessary 
to the welfare of the community as the other; 
but each brings the soul into a different sphere of 
action, and the characters which are to move in 
this sphere and through their exercise to develop, 
must necessarily adapt themselves to the limits 
by which they find themselves surrounded. We 
may find, here and there, persons that seem to be 
originally designed to fill with a beneficial influ- 
ence a sphere of wide proportions, through adverse 
circumstances remain confined within a world of 
action so small and far beneath their station, that, 
in sheer despair over their imprisonment, they let 
go their hold upon their aspirations, and, for the 
time being, sink back into the depths of vice and 
misery : the lesser sphere has obdurately hindered 
the activity of the higher powers, while encour- 
aging that of the lower. Again, there are souls 
of smaller powers of expansion, which, through 
outer influences, drift into a higher sphere than 
they seem to be intended for, and by the power 
of its influence become impelled, even against 
their individual inclination, toward reaching out 
beyond their personality, so that eventually they 
may attain a comparatively elevated state of being : 
these have received more motion and a larger 
sphere in which to move, and thus assume an 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. II3 

appearance of being superior in their nature to 
the former, less favored persons. 

Such are the extremes of fortune as regarding 
the conditions offered for development of charac- 
ter. Human life appears to us a perpetual mov- 
ing about of differently developed beings through 
one another's places. Those of the greatest mov- 
ability are the ones most favored with chances for 
development, inasmuch as they pass through the 
greatest variety of spheres of action. But, like 
the trees which crowd each other in the forest, 
not one is in any sphere permitted an unfoldment 
perfectly symmetrical in all directions ; for the 
conditions are never thus encouraging. Now, we 
might say, " Unfavorable influences may be over- 
come through a superior exercise of will." How- 
ever, as we know, will-power is, like all the other 
constituents of character, a faculty the relative 
strength of which is determined within the indi- 
vidual from the beginning of his life. No two 
characters are endowed with an equal share of 
this force ; its apparent superabundance in one 
person is offset by a corresponding deficiency in 
another; and, of course, each can exercise that 
only which he has. The power of will is to grow 
through the medium of its exercise ; but in the 
course of its development we see it often succumb 



114 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

to forces that are at the moment still superior. 
Thus we find that the beauty and power of the 
soul are as much dependent upon the joint action 
of both the individual and his surroundings, as 
are the health and strength of the body, and the 
favors of this World in general. Nothing in this 
Universe can ever take its course independently. 
In order that the unfoldment of its principles 
from the World's foundation upward may continue 
in the proper order, the Universal Spirit must 
forever keep the fates of all its creatures closely 
interwoven, and continue throughout to be the 
sole directing power over each and all in every 
smallest detail ; or the World would at once disin- 
tegrate. 

We have already perceived that there is no 
power but that of the Universal Spirit, and that 
nothing can find existence in this Universe which 
is not called for by the voice of necessity. We 
know that this call is a continuous one, and that 
there is none other possible which could make 
itself perceptible in opposition to it. This de- 
mand for strict consistency between that which is 
and that which is to be is, in other words, the call 
for Justice. We may feel assured that the Spirit 
responds to each such call, because the Spirit 
itself is the source of each, and because this is 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. I 1 5 

the only way in which the World can remain 
intact. However much the human sense may 
shrink from acknowledging the fact : it still re- 
mains the truth that the evil as well as the good, 
the misery as well as the happiness, come forth 
into the World because necessity demands them 
all. For the same reason is the fate of individ- 
uals not consistent with the character of their 
life. How could this unequal distribution take 
place if the omnipotent Spirit did not will it 
thus ? The eye of the personality may not per- 
ceive the justice which regulates our fates ; for 
Justice, the true and the real, is the life of the 
Spirit itself. The human eye sees that part of 
its operation merely which becomes visible from 
an individual point of view ; and, the personal 
powers of perception being limited in all direc- 
tions and not evenly proportioned amongst one 
another, the little which they do reflect must ever 
appear more or less vague and distorted. There- 
fore we know, that reality is always different 
from its appearance to the individual. And thus 
we find that Justice, this system of reward and 
punishment, has, in truth, not that nature which 
the limited human mind attributes to it. The 
more the soul expands beyond the sphere of its 
own personality, the more clearly does it perceive 



Il6 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

that he who seeks Justice in its appearances 
merely, will never find it. Justice is greater than 
reward and punishment ; it is of a higher nature; 
and, therefore, he who would acquire a true con- 
ception of it, must first rise out of the sphere of 
the personality. We, who are still creatures of 
the Earth, each confined within his own limited 
sphere, struggling for existence, constantly sub- 
ject to alternate happiness and misery, pursuing 
the one and shrinking from the other, — we will 
make the attempt to rise out for the moment and 
see what views we can obtain of the secret nature 
of this Divine Justice which shapes our destinies, 
and upon the right conception of which depends 
our ultimate well-being. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE REASON FOR OUR SUFFERINGS J OUR 
RELATION TO THE EVIL. 

Let us, then, begin with the question, "Why 
does the all-powerful, the all-wise, and harmonious 
Spirit cause its creatures to suffer?" — When we 
sum up the observations that we have so far made, 
we shall find that the answer to this question is 
practically already contained within them : We 
have seen that the World with all its creatures is 
the personality, the medium, through which the 
Spirit feels its existence. Each creature demon- 
strates one phase of the Spirit's life, or power 
of feeling. Now, when we look once more into 
the nature of the fundamental principles, we are 
reminded that each of them is but a demonstra- 
tion of relationship between parts, a manifesta- 
tion of contrast. That which cannot be compared 
with something else, is impossible of existence. 
This idea of contrast is therefore the structure 
upon which the World is built. We have seen 
that in its ideas of Space, Substance, and Motion 



Il8 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

the Spirit establishes contrast primarily with 
respect to extent. Following the course of their 
unfoldment, we have observed how the Spirit fur- 
ther causes them to make their relationships man- 
ifold : the more contrasts, the more existence. 
Thus we perceive, first, the simple contrast 
between Space and Substance : an object needs its 
volume of Space in which to exist. Then we see 
how light is offset by darkness : light is vibration, 
motion of substance ; the substance requires a 
space in which to move, to vibrate, and this motion 
cannot become apparent unless there simultane- 
ously appears a state of calm, or another kind of 
motion — as a contrast. Thus, light needs for 
its existence a space of darkness, and we must 
know the darkness before we can become con- 
scious of the nature of light. In like manner do 
the vibrations of life fill out the abyss of death. 
Each of these exists only through the contrast 
between itself and its opposite ; and the soul 
which is to reflect the one, must necessarily have 
also received into itself the likeness of the other. 
We understand that life is the most perfect 
harmony of vibration. Death means the most 
complete discord, a condition in which the general 
counteraction is so perfect that out of this chaos 
nothing whatever can come forth and make itself 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. II9 

by any means perceptible. Harmony is felt by 
us as happiness ; discord, as misery. These two 
fill out our entire life ; they are the world of con- 
trasts perceived through our power of feeling. 
The more strongly these are reflected within us, 
the more do we feel, or live ; and it is quite obvi- 
ous, that, if either of the two were missing in 
our experience, the other would be imperceptible, 
too, and therefore would not exist to us : the soul 
must have personally felt the pain before it can 
become aware of the nature of the opposite, 
pleasure. For instance, it would be impossible 
for us, if we had never had any bodily discomfort, 
to consciously enjoy a state of bodily well-being. 
Our knowledge of pain could, in that case, be 
merely an intellectual one. Not even could our 
imagination then create for us a picture which 
our feelings could recognize. As the power of 
feeling lies neither in the intellect, nor in the 
imaginative faculties, we should be unable to con- 
trast any picture of pain that we might see with 
our condition of health, so far as feeling is con- 
cerned : No suffering, — no enjoyment. This 
contrast between pain and pleasure is as neces- 
sary for the enjoyment of the higher feelings as 
it is for that of the lower. How clearly is this 
shown, for instance, with respect to home and 



120 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

friends : who ever appreciates these so keenly as 
the one who has been without them for a while ? 
All gratifications of the soul are subject to the 
same law of contrast, — even the moral ; for each 
of them is an experience of a certain harmony in 
the feelings succeeding its opposite, the discord- 
ant state of feelings ungratified ; and this contrast 
between the feelings of the individual is the pur- 
pose for which the changeful character of our 
existence is maintained, — even that of our moral 
existence. 

Here we are reminded of the fact that the 
greater part of human suffering arises from what 
we call "evil thoughts and deeds," themselves to 
us the greatest of all discords. Let us now seek 
to discover the true relation in which the world 
of humanity stands to these. 

To begin with : What constitutes the evil char- 
acter ? In its most pronounced form it is the 
conscious desire to cause discord for its own sake; 
in other words, the willful assertion of self in 
opposition to the character of the Universal 
Spirit. We see that it arises from the selfish 
propensities. Do we find it, then, in the animal- 
world ? No ; for the animals are too little con- 
scious of the nature of the World for them 
ever to perceive the same as being an object 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 121 

for willful opposition. The lion, for instance, is 
not morally responsible for the murders which he 
commits ; he has no other motive than preserva- 
tion of self, and his propensities must act accord- 
ingly ; he knows nothing of the higher Law. 
Even the cat which destroys a mouse without 
devouring the same is not considered as having 
done anything which does not accord with the law 
of its life. Cat and mouse are placed in their 
relation to each other by the law of the Spirit, so 
that the mice may be prevented from killing too 
many of the smaller animals. The cat, in turn, 
is hindered by others from doing away with too 
many mice. The Spirit preserves the animal- 
world in proper equilibrium by way of directing 
the various species to exercise their destructive- 
ness upon one another. The cruelty of the cat 
toward the mouse is nothing worse than the 
animal's gloating over the capture of its enemy. 
Animals cannot become truly conscious of the 
pain which they inflict, and are therefore not to 
be considered as being what we call "evil." 

We must look for the evil character on our own 
plane : When a human soul is active enough to 
discern the difference between harmony and dis- 
cord in others, and, notwithstanding, permits its 
animal propensities to predominate over its higher 



122 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

faculties, the character of that soul may be con- 
sidered as being consciously bad. The higher 
faculties have, in such a case, either not yet 
developed, or their development has, through a 
train of adverse circumstances, suffered a tempo- 
rary retrogression. The lower impulses are with- 
out their proper guide. Being in the human 
body, their clamor for gratification is so much the 
more terrible ; and, by the help of the intellect, 
the discord which they create within the soul 
acquires the character of system. The finer 
voice, which would cause the individual to recog- 
nize his true relationship toward his fellow- 
creatures and to rightly appreciate the value of 
harmony, remains for the time imperceptible. 

However, even the worst of characters is not 
allowed to remain in its original condition ; what 
is lacking in proper guidance within, is supplied 
by forces coming from without. It is the Law 
that every force must meet its opposition : as the 
Spirit preserves the equilibrium on the lower 
plane by setting the propensities of each creature 
against those of the others ; so does it, in the 
same manner, maintain the proper balance on the 
plane of human life by causing the faculties of 
each individual to be responded to by those of 
the whole community. Every vibration must 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 23 

radiate as such into the surroundings ; and, as 
the sound which strikes the wall must always 
come back to its source truly echoed, so is also 
each act destined to be felt, sooner or later, by 
the individual from whom it went forth, either 
agreeably or painfully, according to the motive 
which prompted it. Thus, an evil deed is re- 
sponded to on the human plane in the nature of 
punishment ; the painful effect upon the perpe- 
trator is calculated to arouse his undeveloped or 
dormant conscience, so that he may cease imag- 
ining that disturbances can ultimately bring him 
any pleasure. 

Where the individual conscience is so far awak- 
ened that evil is no more regarded as the end, 
but merely as the means to an end, we perceive 
the character of the ordinary animal-soul, which 
is controlled by the desire for preservation of self 
at any cost. In the human this desire is stronger 
and more manifold, because his wants are greater 
and more numerous ; and the consequences of 
the gratification of this desire at the expense of 
fellow-creatures are therefore also more severe. 
He meets with greater opposition, and his suffer- 
ing is more intense. Thus his consciousness is 
led to gradually develop into the power to perceive 
why the rights of others are to be respected, so 



124 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

that this higher sense may then guide him toward 
finding the way in which it should be done. Ac- 
cordingly, he learns to give attention to the prompt- 
ings of the higher self, and his moral faculties 
receive their due exercise and consequent develop- 
ment. Thus takes place within each individual 
a gradual evolution from moral discord toward 
moral harmony. 

Now, however, we are reminded of the fact that 
very often the evil is apparently not responded to 
in the form of punishment. On careful observa- 
tion we find that this, too, has its well-defined 
reason : When we consider how morally undevel- 
oped the human soul is, we also become aware of 
its comparative weakness. If the full force of 
Justice were to come upon it suddenly, the soul 
would not be able to pay its dues ; it would be 
bankrupt, that is, the soul has as yet not done so 
much of that which is selfless as it has of the 
opposite ; it has not given so much as it has 
taken. Nor has it evolved a power which would 
enable it to cover the deficiency by any immediate 
act, if such an one were suddenly demanded. If 
the deeds which the soul, prompted by the impulse 
of self-preservation, performs through the medium 
of its body, were each time immediately followed 
by their just consequences upon the latter, the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 25 

soul would not get a chance to maintain a body at 
all, and would therefore become an impossibility. 
That which impels the soul to live is, if we will 
take a general view of the subject, nothing else 
than the desire for gratification. According to 
how far the soul has evolved, will its desires be 
low or high. An individual of a low, undeveloped 
character cannot yet perceive any pleasure in 
that which is moral ; therefore he cannot yet be 
moved to direct his energies toward procuring 
the enjoyments of the higher kind. Still, his 
soul wants to be gratified, or it would be without 
the necessary impulse to exist. Therefore, not 
yet being fit for the true kind of gratification, it 
is permitted at intervals to enjoy the apparent; 
the payment for the same being temporarily sus- 
pended. Thus is preserved the strength and the 
impulse of the undeveloped soul to remain in 
existence. 

Meanwhile, the individual's gradually awaken- 
ing conscience succeeds in making its voice more 
and more plainly perceptible in the very midst of 
his apparent pleasures, discouraging their repeti- 
tion through the painful feelings which it causes 
within him ; and thus leading him gradually 
toward a condition where the higher faculties 
have sufficiently evolved to enable him to perceive 



126 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

that he has contracted a debt : where he at last 
shall feel impelled to begin its payment according 
to the Spirit's Law; placing his personality in 
the service of his creditor, the Universal Spirit. 
Thus we see how evolution is possible only 
through an enforced compromise among all crea- 
tures. 

In looking about among the various characters, 
we have observed that they all differ from one 
another in degree of development ; and this 
observation leads us to a clear understanding of 
the relation in which the evil stands to the good 
with respect to purpose : We see that the evil 
character does not meet with opposition from 
merely the lower faculties of the community, but 
likewise from the higher. While the former com- 
pel the individual to moral progress by way* of 
meeting like with like, the latter exercise upon 
him the power of persuasion : the beings of higher 
development meet the evil with good ; they exert 
upon the transgressor their power for good by 
sending his vibrations of discord back to him in 
the form of harmony, and thus giving him an 
opportunity for better comparison between the 
two. He thus becomes acquainted with the 
nature of the higher character by personal inner 
contact, learns to sense through his own feelings 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. I?7 

the superiority of the gratifications enjoyed by a 
character that emanates a harmony so powerful, 
and, as is quite natural, becomes encouraged to 
an effort of substituting these for his own. The 
example is before him ; and, as we know, the 
gentle power of persuasion contained in its placid 
demonstration of imperturbable serenity and kind- 
ness proves in the end to be the stronger force. 
And this is the feature in which we may discover 
the reason why the good are so often placed in 
contact with the various kinds of evil influence : 
We have seen how all things come forth through 
exercise alone, and how character is one of these. 
Character demands for its elevation a frequent 
active demonstration in the direction of goodness. 
This exercise, however, always requires that the 
performer have an object upon which to act; and 
this must be an object of resistance, something 
to cause a more or less painful effort. We may 
compare this exercise of the soul to that of our 
arm while lifting weights : like this, the soul 
must, in order to evolve its power of ascent, con- 
stantly practise upon something that tends to 
bear it down ; and this object of resistance, in 
this case, consists in the evil influence. When 
the exercise of the arm causes a certain feeling of 
soreness, we consider this an indication that we 



128 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

are adding somewhat to our strength of muscle. 
The absence of this feeling proves that there has 
been comparatively little effort, and consequently 
only little progress. This applies with equal 
force to the soul. For instance, when a sugges- 
tion comes to us, calculated to arouse our self- 
interest, which then clamors for gratification at 
the expense of our neighbor, we naturally, for 
the time being, suffer the pains of discord. We 
call our higher faculties to increased activity. 
When, finally, these have prevailed and once more 
peace is restored within, then we feel that through 
this exercise we have gained in moral power, in 
force of elevation ; we have benefited by the evil 
suggestion. In the same way, when we have 
been injured by an erring fellow-man, and, instead 
of meeting like with like, we exert ourselves in 
the work of kindly lifting him out of the misery 
of his fault, the effort of showing him that which 
we perceive as being right and good, causes these 
perceptions to become so much the more clearly 
apparent to ourselves. Better perception of har- 
mony means stronger love of harmony, and makes 
clear the way to its attainment. The forces 
required for our progress have been increased 
through the exercise which they were compelled to 
undergo ; thus we have benefited by the evil deed. 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 29 

We may, then, look upon all the evil, which is 
the cause of so much of the misery through 
which we are obliged to pass, as being in this 
World for the express purpose of making possible 
the evolution of the good. In every respect the 
good and the evil exist for one another, just like 
any other pair of opposites that we may think of. 
The good, too, can become perceptible through 
its contrast only with the opposite, the evil. 

This principle, contrast, contains one more 
feature to be considered ; and this is a most 
important one : We find that the feelings of pain 
and pleasure do not depend merely upon the 
extent of contrasts experienced, but also upon 
the manner in which these experiences of con- 
trasts follow one another. When we have for 
some time continued in one certain condition, the 
feeling attendant upon the same gradually loses 
its power to impress. The recollection of its con- 
trast with a former state fades away from us. A 
new condition, a new experience of contrast, — 
and our power of feeling is again aroused to 
higher activity. Thus our pain or pleasure in- 
creases or diminishes according to the amount 
of time which elapses while we move from one 
condition into another. We will consider, for 
instance, the feelings of the body in health and 



I30 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

in sickness : A man has for years been in good 
health. He has gradually become so accustomed 
to this that he has nearly lost the recollection of 
ever having been in any other condition ; there- 
fore he is now likewise almost unconscious of his 
pleasurable state of health. Suddenly, however, 
he becomes ill. Now his feelings are aroused. 
He becomes painfully aware of a growing contrast 
between his present condition and the former. 
After a while, when the picture of sickness has 
once more become strongly impressed upon his 
feelings, he begins to recover. By degrees his 
body returns into its usual harmonious condition 
and regains its former strength. He perceives 
how each day the contrast between misery and 
well-being widens in his favor ; and it is this 
motion in which he is engaged as he passes from 
degree to degree, that must force his powers of 
feeling to their close attention. These are com- 
pelled to watch the course of improvement taking 
place in the body with the same vigor that they 
evinced during the process of its deterioration ; 
at no other times can they be so active. And 
thus, the same law, which, during the time of his 
getting sick, caused him to experience the most 
acute form of misery, must now, during his pro- 
gress in the opposite direction, grant him the high- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 131 

est degree of pleasure : he finds that getting well 
is more pleasurable than being well. This law 
applies not alone to the conditions of the body, 
but likewise to those of the soul. In every in- 
stance the highest potency of feeling has its being 
in the perception of the change itself. 

Through causing our feelings thus to alter- 
nately increase and diminish their activity, ever 
fluctuating between discord and harmony, work 
and rest, the Spirit preserves and increases their 
power. In the fact that the most painful feeling 
in the soul arises from a perception of moral retro- 
gression, while the most pleasurable comes forth 
as a consequence of moral progress, we have a 
conclusive evidence that the Spirit preserves the 
life of the soul for no other purpose than for 
the demonstration of progress in the direction of 
well-being through moral evolution. Through the 
law of contrast we are shown the right direction 
by the pain that our moral sense encounters in 
the opposite. In all things we are constrained to 
suffer before we can enjoy. 

At this point, however, we are reminded of the 
observations that we made before, and now there 
forces itself upon our mind that great question : 
" If progress in the direction of well-being is our 
destiny, why are, nevertheless, so many creatures 



132 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

doomed to undergo more misery than happiness, 
and why do so many lives end in suffering ? " 
Let us try to find an explanation. 



CHAPTER XV. 

LEADING TO AN EXPLANATION OF THE INEQUAL- 
ITY OF OUR FATES. 

We have convinced ourselves that the Spirit's 
final object is the evolution of feeling through the 
medium of variety of experience, demonstration 
of contrast. Now, however, we are not to under- 
stand, that, as a creature's unhappy moments are 
the necessary background to its happy ones ; so 
a whole life of misery should be called forth to 
serve as offset merely to another life consisting of 
pleasure. For, as we know, the Spirit demon- 
strates the power of feeling, or life, alone through 
the medium of its individual creatures ; in other 
words, feeling cannot exist independently of the 
created being. The Spirit radiates its life into 
the various souls as the Sun sends his vibrations 
into the bodies, and there only can the feeling be 
generated. Thus we see that a body which com- 
bines within itself the sensations of all creatures 
at once, does not exist. 

We have observed, while following the course 
of evolution from the very first principles upward, 



134 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

that the Spirit in its wholeness is alike present 
within each of its creatures. We, of course, are 
not able to detect the presence of all the faculties 
in every form of life, but these are, nevertheless, 
present in the germ in each creature, and only 
awaiting the opportunities required for their devel- 
opment. Likewise is the Spirit's character of 
progressiveness expressed in every life, and this 
character remains ever the same. The one Spirit 
being equally present in all its creatures, and at 
the same time directing their fates in common, it 
is quite impossible that any one of these should 
ultimately receive better consideration than the 
rest. And such a thing as blind chance is out of 
the question altogether ; for the various fates are 
so closely interwoven with one another, that no 
room is left for anything which is not called forth 
by a demand of necessity. There certainly is no 
necessity for an unequal distribution of good 
throughout Eternity. How could the all-wise and 
all-powerful Spirit, which maintains the Universe 
by its will, the character of which is harmony, 
deliberately create anything for the purpose of 
final discord ? This would prove that the Spirit 
were divided against itself ; for the proceeding 
would be an injustice such as even the human 
being of ordinary development would not commit. 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. I35 

And how could the Creator, who at all times 
maintains his power over his creations, and whose 
wisdom must ever remain beyond the comprehen- 
sion of any individual soul, wish to be less just to 
any of his creatures than they would be to one 
another ? The existence and continuance of the 
World proves that harmony is the ruling power; 
if it were not, there would be no possibility of 
any thing to make itself perceptible above the 
perfect discord, the chaos, the "no-thing." When 
the Spirit succeeds in evolving one of its souls 
into a condition of happiness, it certainly has the 
power to do the same by all the others ; for it is 
equally present in all. Where in any one the 
discord ultimately acquired the ascendancy over 
the harmony, there the Spirit would have suffered 
a final loss ; it would have proven itself weak. 
Is such an event to be thought possible for only 
a moment ? Every line of life-experiences must 
upon closer observation show that the soul which 
goes through them is stronger at the end than it 
was at the beginning; for the individual goes 
through a series of exercises. Even though a soul 
be apparently unsuccessful, miserable, and finally 
vanish from the scene as a defeated warrior, — 
the energy with which it fights its last battle is 
superior to that with which it came to Earth. Its 



I36 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

qualities in general have improved in exact pro- 
portion with the amount and greatness of hard- 
ships overcome. In the course of its troubled 
career some of the powers of the soul may appar- 
ently vanish, that is, they may disappear from our 
view. But, can a power once possessed by the 
soul ever be lost ? When a force has disappeared, 
there still remains the possibility of proving that 
this force has merely for the time being become 
latent through the influence of some other force, 
or else, that its medium is no longer suitable for 
its use. 

Let us picture to ourselves the course of one 
of these lives that end in defeat : We will sup- 
pose it to be that of a man ending as a slave to 
the lower appetites. When he first comes to 
Earth, we see him as a child, in appearance very 
much resembling all other children. The little 
one is not yet quite conscious of its own being; 
it is still free from care. This condition expresses 
itself in the features, and the distinguishing marks 
of the individuality are thus to a great extent still 
hidden from view. The body is yet small and 
weak, and the soul within cannot fully express 
itself, until it has put this little body through 
a course of development. The brain, however, 
already contains the required organs, and, upon 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 37 

close observation, it may be noticed that its pro- 
portions are, from the very start, as different from 
those of all other brains as the soul within differs 
from all other souls. This fact now begins to 
make itself more and more manifest in the child's 
features and ways in general. As yet, however, 
no one discovers any indication of the great evil 
which is lurking within, awaiting its opportunity 
to develop. The evil remains still hidden in the 
bud ; it has not yet the means with which to show 
itself. Eventually, the child evolves into man- 
hood, and the man is at liberty to enter as a 
responsible factor the world of activity and temp- 
tations. Now all the qualities of his soul have 
an equal chance to come forth and to express 
themselves. Until now, his life has been such as 
to encourage the action chiefly of the higher fac- 
ulties. The training which he received did not 
permit any gratification of the lower self beyond 
the degree of moderation. While the higher self 
was being cultivated, his animal faculties were 
counteracted, hindered from their full expression ; 
they have to that degree remained latent, and 
their further fate now depends upon his own free 
judgment. We will suppose that they were orig- 
inally more powerfully represented than their 
opposites. The result is that they will now grad- 



I38 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

ually come forth and make their nature felt with 
superior energy and tenacity ; they clamor for 
individual gratification. The training received by 
the higher faculties has not been quite sufficient 
to raise these into such superiority over the pro- 
pensities that they might now keep these latter 
in subjection and press them into service on 
the higher plane. The man's powerful impulse 
toward preservation of self thus becomes more 
and more confined to the interests of the body. 
He is led to pay superior attention to that which 
is attainable on the material plane. He does not 
now desire to merely preserve the body, but to 
preserve it well. This means, he is anxious that 
its sensations should be as pleasurable as possible. 
Thus he feels attracted toward a life of material 
enjoyment, and, as a consequence, enters the 
society of those similarly inclined. All this 
while, his moral faculties are just as active as 
they would have been under other circumstances, 
and even more so ; for they, in their comparative 
weakness, yet perceiving the danger of the course 
pursued, are forced to be the more energetic, the 
greater the opposing power. There takes place 
many an inward battle, many a strong remon- 
strance against the undue animal indulgence ; and 
each such exercise of the higher faculties must 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 39 

necessarily increase their power. Meantime, how- 
ever, also the lower must grow, from the same 
cause. Moreover, through the excessive demands 
which the appetites make upon the body, con- 
stantly exposing the same to all kinds of destruc- 
tive influences, this becomes so exhausted that it 
gradually deteriorates in the quality of its texture. 
The brain loses its power to perform the fine 
vibrations required for bringing thought and sen- 
timent into the sphere of personal consciousness, 
and thus the higher faculties of the soul are grad- 
ually deprived of the service of their organs in 
this body. And this is the direct cause of their 
defeat in this man's life : For want of a proper 
medium through which to express themselves, 
they are finally forced to leave the body in the 
sole possession of the animal propensities, taking 
with them, of course, the power of judgment 
concerning the body itself. In consequence, this 
latter then soon ceases to be serviceable even to 
the lower faculties, and must be abandoned by 
these also. In the first part of this man's life 
the propensities were latent ; in the latter part, 
the higher faculties ; and with this condition came 
the end. The soul has suffered a moral defeat. 
But are we justified in supposing this to be a final 
one ? We have seen nothing further than the 



I4O A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

reason why the higher faculties were forced to 
abandon their body before this itself disintegrated. 

We are, moreover, aware that destruction is 
the ultimate destiny of all bodies, irrespective of 
the height of development attained by the soul 
within. But the fact that we no longer see the 
power which animated a body, is not a proof that 
this power has deteriorated or ceased to exist. 

We know that Justice demands the like ulti- 
mate destiny for all souls, but we see no two 
individuals end their career at the same point. 
The Spirit, which maintains the Universe intact 
throughout the ages, certainly has the power of 
evolving from the discord the highest form of 
harmony in all souls alike ; it need not restrict 
itself to leading them through only such a line of 
experiences as is contained in one short Earth 
life. Moreover, when we observe the two ex- 
tremes, the happy form of life and the unhappy 
one, we stand before the question, " How did 
those who live either of these two acquire the 
power of feeling necessary for the conscious per- 
ception of their condition ? " As we have seen, 
the law of contrast requires, that, in order to 
experience with the feelings the one condition, 
one must have previously had a personal experi- 
ence of the other ; in order to know the taste of 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. I4I 

a thing, we must have tasted the same ourselves. 
One might suggest that the soul inherits this 
knowledge of foreign experiences in the form of 
intuition ; and it cannot be denied, that, as the 
body inherits certain characteristic qualities, so 
the soul may receive from the parents a certain 
share of intuitive knowledge. However, when 
we consider that at some time or other every fam- 
ily must die out, that through the great catas- 
trophes, such as, for instance, cataclysms, which 
occur from time to time and revolutionize the 
conditions on the surface of the planet, whole 
races of beings in a still undeveloped state are 
suddenly wiped out of existence, we find that the 
law of heredity is surely not the only medium of 
evolution. This fact becomes most clearly appar- 
ent to us when we consider the character of the 
great and good souls which now and then grace 
the Earth with their presence in human form. 
These are in power of thought and feeling so far 
superior to the whole race in which they are born, 
that, with respect to them, the laws of heredity 
can have had little or no influence. Each soul is 
to evolve its powers through the experiences of 
its own life. 

Therefore, as the soul is destined for the high- 
est evolution, as it is to gather the experiences 



142 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

through which to evolve, not through the medium 
of the law of heredity, but by its efforts as an 
individual, and as these necessary experiences 
cannot possibly all be gained in one Earth-life, 
— there is only one way in which the soul may 
accomplish its purpose : the soul must preserve 
its individuality entirely independent of the body, 
so that when its life in one body has come to an 
end, it may enter another, and thus forever freely 
move from life to life. Why should this not be 
the case ? When the soul has the power to form 
and manipulate one body, why should it not be 
able to repeat the process ? Let us see what 
proofs we can find that the soul is thus immortal. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE SOUL'S IMMORTALITY AND NECESSITY FOR 
REAPPEARANCE ON EARTH. 

We will begin by reviewing what we have 
learned of the World's character in respect to 
immortality in general : We have seen that the 
vibrations of the Spirit retain their individuality 
throughout all their combinations with one another. 
Not an atom of that which is perceptible to us 
can ever vanish from existence. The smallest 
particle of dust floating in the air is as important 
a part in the fabric of the Universe as the great- 
est heavenly body, and, like this, exerts its influ- 
ence throughout the World. Were it possible to 
annihilate even so small an object as this speck of 
dust, the vacancy produced would result in the 
collapse of the Universe so surely as the removal 
of a wheel connected with the spring of a clock 
would cause the stand-still of the works. For 
the atom represents a vibration, a power of revo- 
lution, designed to fit closely into the great chain 
of the World's activity. Likewise is each life- 



144 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

vibration coming from the Sun an immortal power. 
We see that its force may lie latent for ages ; but 
it has not vanished from existence ; it will reap- 
pear the moment in which the conditions set it 
free to act. For instance : the rays of the Sun 
combine with the elements to form a forest of 
trees. In the course of time these turn into coal. 
The power of these life-vibrations has now become 
latent. For ages this bed of coal lies hidden in 
the bosom of the Earth, until it is found. Man 
is the medium through which this latent force 
is to regain its liberty ; the coal is placed in a 
furnace and ignited. A part of the substance 
turns into smoke and ashes, and eventually returns 
to the Earth once more to unite with the soil. 
Another part, however, in the form of heat- 
vibrations, enters the water in a boiler. The 
original Sun-rays are now active in the steam. 
This is concentrated so as to act in one particular 
direction, its force entering the piston-rod of a 
machine. The life is now in the latter. We will 
suppose that this machine is used in the manufac- 
ture of a musical instrument. This being com- 
pleted, the power has once more become latent ; 
it is in the instrument which it helped to make, 
again awaiting the favorable conditions that may 
set it free. Now the musician comes and, with 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. I45 

him. the necessary conditions. As he calls forth 
the various accords of which the instrument is 
capable, the power, in the form of sound-vibration, 
enters, together with the life of the melody, the 
ear of man, and through his brain touches his 
soul. Here these vibrations of harmonious sound 
make themselves perceptible in the character of 
what we may call "spiritual warmth." They 
have thus once more turned into life-vibrations ; 
and the soul, impelled by them to higher activity, 
refines its power of thought and feeling, conceiv- 
ing ideas which, before, had been beyond its 
reach. The life-vibrations of the Sun are now 
contained in these ideas and, together with them, 
they eventually enter once more the world of mat- 
ter in the form of acts. 

As we are aware, every act is a motion, a vibra- 
tion, which must strike some part of the Universe, 
whether near or far, and thus cause another 
motion ; that is, every act, being a transmission of 
power, has its certain consequences. Likewise is 
every act in itself a consequence, and we under- 
stand that there cannot be an end to consequences 
any more than there can be a beginning of causes. 
The power which thus skips from place to place, 
from object to object, bound fast nowhere, some- 
times mysteriously disappearing, then reappearing 



I46 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

with wonderful suddenness and force, being for- 
ever at once the effect and the cause, proves to 
be immortal in both directions. It is an emana- 
tion of the Spirit itself, and each such motion, 
however small its vibration may be, eventually 
alters the Universe in every part. But, individu- 
ally, it must ever return from time to time to its 
original character of life-vibration. 

The Sun, as we have seen, is a centralization of 
such power. The vibrations which he emanates 
are immortal. This being the case, it is self- 
evident that the nucleus which sends them out, 
namely, the Sun himself, is equally so. Suppos- 
ing the Sun, as a body, were through some catas- 
trophe suddenly dissolved, his whole store of 
energy would nevertheless continue in existence ; 
it would simply enter that with which it collided ; 
though changing in appearance, it would retain 
its character, its mode of activity, and it would 
know its source as well as it does now. The 
same law applies to the energy of the created 
being : this, too, is a centralization of power, send- 
ing out its vibrations in the form of thought and 
deed as independently as the Sun emits his rays. 
The act being immortal, why not also the actor ? 
While we see the living creature in the midst of 
its activity, we recognize the existence of its 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. I47 

power, or soul, even though we cannot perceive the 
same otherwise than through the medium of the 
acts which represent its character. Supposing 
the creature now lies down and rests : we know 
that its forces have merely become latent ; we 
expect them to come forth again in due time. 
Now it sleeps : still we do not doubt their exist- 
ence ; but where are they now ? We know that 
they are still connected with that body ; for they 
manifest themselves from time to time in the 
form of dreams. The soul is allowing its brain a 
period of rest, and presently we shall see it 
reappear within the same and impel the creature 
to its usual activity. Where does the soul go 
while its servant sleeps ? It may go anywhere 
and nowhere. While observing the mysterious 
powers of intuition in plant, animal, and man, 
we have seen that the soul, as master of the 
body, is free to travel independently beyond the 
same through Space and Substance, as well as 
through Time. The soul is therefore not an 
object in the material sense. We saw that the 
life-vibrations which entered that forest and sub- 
sequently found their way around through the 
various elements and through the soul of man, 
being neither bound, nor lost, anywhere, repre- 
sented the condition merely of that through which 



I48 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

they passed. So does also the soul show itself 
as the condition of the creature which represents 
it. We see that the soul is also in this respect 
like all other forces ; and, when we remember 
that it, too, is an indispensable part of the Uni- 
versal energy, and originates from the same 
Universal Spirit, we can no longer doubt that the 
power which constitutes the soul is indeed an 
immortal power. 

Now, we have remarked that this force distin- 
guishes itself from the other forces through mani- 
festing itself in organized form. Our first views of 
the nature of life have shown us the superiority of 
the organized power over the unorganized. We 
have seen how the soul of the plant combines the 
various elements according to its own will and 
design ; the plant is a center of action. We see 
there established a condition which has the power 
of remaining intact in the midst of the restless 
elements ; the desire for maintaining this organ- 
ized form of existence is evidenced also in the 
fact that this condition constantly reproduces 
itself from within the plant. Likewise are both 
the power and the desire present in the animal ; 
while in man this condition evolves into conscious 
desire and conscious power. The awakening 
creature proves to us that a soul, a condition, 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 49 

which is defined clearly enough to demonstrate 
itself as a living being is, by virtue of its individ- 
uality, enabled to remain the sole possessor of its 
body even while the latter sleeps. During dream- 
less sleep the greater and higher part of the soul, 
if not active in some other locality, has simply 
returned into that state of (spiritual) latency in 
which everything is bound that is not at the time 
called forth for demonstration by the demands of 
necessity. The moment in which this call arises, 
comes forth the soul and once more takes charge 
of its body as required. 

When, for a while, the animation of the body 
is, so far as we can discern, suspended entirely, 
the degree of soul-power still maintained within 
the same must certainly be exceedingly small. 
And yet, in due time the whole soul may come 
back and once more take up its wonted habitation. 

Now, when the body has been deserted by its 
soul forever, when we see the creature which a 
while ago represented a center of vibrating force, 
disintegrate, we are not to conclude that for this 
reason the soul-power has dissolved also and 
returned into the universal energy as a multitude 
of separate vibrations, just as any other force 
would do. For, the soul is an organized power. 
Its various faculties have firmly united to mani- 



I50 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

fest themselves as one character, one individual ; 
their powerful desire for preservation of self has 
become one and inseparable ; and when the soul 
has thus for any length of time maintained itself 
intact in the midst of the world of activity, it is 
certainly qualified for remaining so in the future, 
whether it be called to return into the silent 
bosom of the Spirit, or again to come forth in the 
form of a creature. 

Plant and animal prove their power over Sub- 
stance unconsciously ; man knows that he is of 
the Law, that is, immortal ; for he has the power 
to consciously perceive Law and, to a degree, 
even the conscious power of its application. The 
souls of the lower creatures are immortal through 
their mere desire to be in existence. Man not 
only feels the desire to be immortal, but he is also 
conscious of the power to be so. He clearly per- 
ceives that he is; he looks into the past, and 
remembers that he was ; and conscious of his 
superiority over the world of matter, he feels 
that he always will be: the same conditions that 
enabled him to come forth once, will at any time 
allow him to do so again ; and who can doubt the 
power and the will of the Spirit to repeat these 
conditions in the future the same as it has done 
in the past ? 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 5 1 

Even the soul which leaves the sphere of activ- 
ity, moved by the desire to thereby end its own 
existence forever, must eventually return to the 
scene as an individual being, true to its character. 
Such a soul has not lost its desire to live ; it 
rejects one certain kind of life merely, namely, 
that to which its own personality is at the time 
subjected ; and thereby it gives evidence of how 
pronounced its character as an individual actually 
is. This soul proves that it has a very pro- 
nounced preference for a certain kind of exist- 
ence, or it would not desire to end its present 
one. It wants to be gratified according to its 
own desires ; and these, in every instance, arise 
either directly or indirectly from the personality, 
thus impelling it with irresistible force to return 
to that only plane where this personality is per- 
mitted to assert -itself, namely, the Earth-life. 

So must also the soul which passes out in the 
discord of insanity, come back in order to regain 
its health. When we take a general view of the 
causes of insanity, we find that these are either 
physical or psychological. When the cause lies 
in the disturbed condition of the brain, the equi- 
librium is lost through the incapacity of the organ 
merely to properly express the soul. When the 
discord appears originally in the soul itself, it is 



152 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

in every case to be traced back to an abnormal 
activity among the faculties in the direction of 
some interest pertaining to the self. Though the 
soul has, for the time being, apparently lost its 
consciousness of self, it has not by any means 
dissolved. It still has the power to maintain the 
life of its body ; while the very activity of the 
soul in asserting the self, however unconscious 
and discordant these manifestations may be, gives 
evidence that the soul is only too anxious to pre- 
serve its individuality, and that, after leaving its 
present body, it requires a period of rest merely 
until it shall be fit to continue the process of its 
cure in the next. 

Finally we must consider the lives and expres- 
sions of those individuals whom we recognize as 
having attained the highest degree of unfoldment 
possible for man on Earth. These great souls 
who radiate their beneficial influence into the 
lives of many generations, these great instructors 
of mankind, are, as we know, all permeated with 
the firm conviction that the individuality of the 
soul can never be lost ; and they prove the 
strength of their conviction, not alone by their 
arguments, but by their very lives. Living in 
better harmony with the Spirit's Law than is pos- 
sible to their less developed fellow-men, they are 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 53 

naturally in position to better understand the 
Spirit's plans. Thus we must, of course, look up 
to these more advanced minds as being the most 
trustworthy authority which we have. We see 
that the higher form of consciousness which they 
possess is accompanied by a more perfect love of 
life. They look upon life as being ours, not for 
temporary enjoyment merely, but for the purpose 
of eternal elevation ; and they illustrate their 
teachings by their personal conduct : they use 
their Earth-lives for no other purpose than that 
of helping their fellow-men to rise, together with 
themselves, into that higher form of existence 
which they, from their exalted position, are 
enabled to discern. Could these great souls, 
guided by the Spirit within, so gladly renounce 
all interest in their own personality, if the Spirit 
had not in store for them a greater life beyond ? 
There certainly is no stronger proof possible, that 
the individuality of the soul is immortal, than that 
which is thus given us by these higher beings in 
their willingness to sacrifice their own Earth-life 
in the interest of human evolution. In the glad- 
ness of self-sacrifice by which their knowledge is 
accompanied, we truly sense the boundlessness of 
the life which emanates from the Spirit's almighty 
and undying power, — the power of Love. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CONDITIONS GOVERNING REAPPEARANCE J EVOLU- 
TION BEYOND THE HUMAN PLANE. 

We may, then, in all safety, feel assured that 
every creature represents a soul as immortal as 
the Universe of which it is a part, and that each 
soul preserves, not only its character as a well- 
defined individuality, but also its power of active 
demonstration in the Universal life. Each is des- 
tined to make its reappearance from life to life in 
such a body and in such environment as corre- 
spond with the nature of its desires. So long 
as these pertain to that which is attainable in 
Earth-life, the law of affinity will draw the soul 
into an earthly body ; for, where could there pos- 
sibly be a sphere so suitable for seeking the grati- 
fication of earthly desires as the one to which the 
soul has already become accustomed, namely, the 
Earth itself ? 

The recollections of experiences are, of course, 
not to be carried along from one life into an- 
other; for each life means a new brain, and each 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 55 

brain can record the experiences of that person- 
ality only to which it belongs. There is no neces- 
sity for a recollection of that which happened to 
the soul in a former life : As we have seen, the 
sole object of the Spirit is to evolve the power of 
feeling, and everything that happens to the per- 
sonality comes to fulfill this one purpose only. 
Each event makes its characteristic impression 
upon the soul in the form of either pain or pleas- 
ure. Guided by these feelings, the soul then 
evolves its various likes and dislikes, in other 
words, its character ; and thus the events of each 
life are carried into the next, not as cold, dry 
recollection of facts, but as power of feeling, intu- 
ition. We may find this clearly illustrated in the 
manner in which the soul forms and maintains its 
physical body. The knowledge pertaining to the 
physical constitution is, originally, purely intui- 
tional ; it is so firmly imbedded within us, that, in 
order to become conscious of the same, we are 
compelled to call to aid our powers of intellectual 
perception. Meantime the soul, which has been 
enabled by its instinctive knowledge to form its 
body, continues by the same power, unconsciously 
to ourselves, to keep it intact. When the body 
has for a while been out of order and then, seem- 
ingly without assistance, regains its health, we 



I56 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

say, " Nature has cured herself," and, indeed, the 
cure is the result of the instinctive work of the 
soul which governs that body. 

When eventually the latter, either suddenly or 
slowly, becomes unfit for habitation by the soul, 
in other words, when the body dies, the pain 
attending this process is simply the remonstrance 
of the faculties against the impending loss of 
their wonted medium. Knowing, however, that 
the powers gained by the soul in one body are to 
find their due opportunity for demonstration in 
the next, we understand the spiritual reason why 
the end-part of life is generally painful. It must 
be so in obedience to the law of contrast ; the 
beginning of the young life proves this. See the 
years of happiness that come to the little child as 
the soul gradually makes itself at home in its 
new body. More and more each day the various 
organs are encouraged, developed, and placed in 
service to gratify the world of desires that mani- 
fests itself within. Each new attainment means 
a new delight. Could all this happiness be possi- 
ble if the soul had not first received into itself 
the reflection of the opposite ? 

But now, however, there forces itself upon our 
notice the fact that each birth, in turn, means 
another death. Further, we are reminded that 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 57 

there is, indeed, no earthly gratification possible 
which does not ultimately cause as much pain as 
it brought pleasure. We find that upon every 
earthly good there is set a certain price, and that 
this price must be paid, sooner or later, by the 
very individual who enjoyed the respective benefit. 
In the long succession of lives through which the 
soul must pass while gathering its knowledge, there 
is surely an abundance of opportunity for the pay- 
ment of its debts to all its creditors ; and the Uni- 
versal Spirit, which can preserve the world intact 
through the exercise of perfect Justice only, in the 
smallest as well as the greatest matters, makes no 
discriminations. Thus it will happen again and 
again that the body loses its strength, its beauty, 
and its health ; that position and wealth suddenly 
give place to disgrace and poverty ; that the soul 
is bereft of its objects of affection, — and all this 
may come upon us apparently without the slightest 
trace of justification. And we ask, "Wherefore 
all these lives, if they are to bring us ever the 
same kind of alternation between the pleasure and 
the pain ? must there not, in the course of Eter- 
nity, come a time when the human soul grows 
weary of its constant repetition, — a time when it 
ceases to take the interest in life required for re- 



158 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

for every one of its institutions, and wisely pro- 
vides for every need arising in its World. 

While studying the life of the animal, we 
observed that even the higher faculties are sub- 
ject as much to misery as to happiness. We see 
that their fate is determined, not alone by them- 
selves, but also by the nature of the objects upon 
which they are exercised. The same rule, of 
course, applies also to the faculties of man. The 
worldly favors, fellow-beings, — all things that are 
perceptible to a personality, are of the like earthly 
nature, perishable ; and whatever higher feelings 
are bestowed upon these, are liable to come to 
grief the same as the lower impulses. The pleas- 
ure of the higher faculties is higher, more refined ; 
but likewise is their misery deeper, more acute. 
These manifold discouragements often come to us 
apparently undeserved. We remember that the 
various fates are never quite in accord with the 
character of the respective individuals. One rea- 
son for this shifted condition between us and the 
fates that would be consistent with our present life 
has already been found : we saw that this appar- 
ently unequal distribution of good and bad is in 
each case but a temporary compromise necessi- 
tated by the condition of the respective souls. 
Now, this constantly unequal distribution surely has 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 59 

another purpose ; we may look upon it as indicat- 
ing a well-defined intention of the Spirit with 
regard to our further destiny. 

When we consider that all our efforts to alter 
this changeful condition are in vain ; that we are 
constantly subjected to all manner of disappoint- 
ment and discouragement ; when, further, we see 
that often it is the best character which meets with 
the greatest adversity, and that the most advanced 
souls are altogether indifferent concerning the 
goods of earth, we become convinced that earthly 
gratification can not be our final destiny. We 
have seen that the character which the Spirit 
expresses in its World, is forever that of progres- 
siveness. A stand-still is impossible ; and thus, 
when a soul has proven that it has outgrown the 
life in human form and has thus become worthy of 
rising into a higher sphere, we may feel assured 
that its desire will be gratified : there is a form of 
life above the human. 

The advanced souls prove to us by their lives 
that this higher existence can be attained by us in 
no other way than through the evolution of our 
desires. We cannot rise into a higher sphere until 
these have severed their connection with the lower. 
Both our personal experiences and our observations 
of the lives of others show us, that, without the 



l6o A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

aid of a certain pressure from without, the evolu- 
tion of our desire, or character, would be an utter 
impossibility. The evolution of Life from plane 
to plane being the Spirit's sole object in all its 
manifestations, and the aspirations of the human 
soul not being quite powerful enough to lift this 
latter out of its present sphere of gratifications 
without a pressure from without, it is plain that 
this needed aid must be provided. It is clear also 
that the same can not come to us otherwise than 
in the form of discouragement with respect to 
these very gratifications ; and thus we have hap- 
pily arrived at this comforting truth, namely, that 
all the discouragements which come to us human- 
beings are to be looked upon by us solely in this 
light : they come to wean us from that which is 
earthly, so that we may become free to turn our 
attention to that which is in store for us beyond ; 
they help us discard the gratifications of the lower 
kind, so that we may prepare ourselves for the 
higher. 

It is obvious that this higher form of existence 
is not for a community confined to human bodies ; 
for, desires that have been elevated above the 
human plane require for their gratification a 
medium different from the human body. We see 
that the physical form of man ever remains sub- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. l6l 

ject to accidents, disease and death ; it represents 
a soul which is still bound by its desires to the 
world of earthly personalities, and which still 
requires, for the evolution of its desires into a 
higher form, a continuous contact on a common 
basis with a variety of other characters of the 
human calibre. 

We see that the plane of human existence, the 
earth-plane, regarded as an institution, remains 
stationary, — a class in the great school of Life, 
the world of souls each at its appointed time 
moving in, graduating, and rising out into the one 
above. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

CONCERNING THE HIGHER FORM OF LIFE AND 
THE WAY IN WHICH IT IS ATTAINED. 

Let us now see how far we may comprehend 
the conditions and nature in general of that higher 
life which is in store for us. Where are we to 
look for that higher sphere ? It cannot be located 
on another planet, for each one of these receives 
its own share of life- vibrations, and must confine 
itself to the work of evolving the creatures en- 
trusted to it, the same as the Earth is restricted 
to the evolution of her own. There can be no 
place on any planet for beings which the same has 
not itself evolved from the very first stage. The 
physical conditions to be found on other spheres 
being different from those on Earth, the bodies of 
the creatures living there must likewise differ 
from our own. This is the barrier which prevents 
us from becoming creatures on any foreign planet : 
not only are we accustomed to the conditions 
of our own, but, at the same time, we can get 
no opportunity for becoming even so much as 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 163 

acquainted with those existing elsewhere. Any 
adaptation to them is thus out of the question. 
Therefore other planets have no more power of 
attraction over our soul than they have over our 
body. Moreover, there is no call of necessity for 
such a transfer of existence : there is no reason 
for supposing that the soul cannot evolve all its 
faculties and its perception of the Universal har- 
mony just as well in the sphere of the Earth as 
in that of any of the other planets. 

We find that the only way in which we may 
learn anything concerning the plane above our 
present one, is by looking into those that lie 
below, and then following the line of evolution 
upward so far as we find the same indicated by 
the lives of those who have risen beyond us. 

We have seen how the life comes to the Earth 
direct from the Sun, and how the Earth then pro- 
ceeds to form the various unions with these vibra- 
tions, bringing forth the plant and the animal. 
These creatures, we know, belong exclusively to 
the sphere of Earth. Then we have seen how 
the union of the various animal-traits forms the 
soul of man. As these faculties come forth on 
our planet, it is obvious that the Earth is also the 
first place where man's soul appeared. It is, of 
course, impossible for us to discern whether the 



I64 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

faculties constituting the human soul have, or 
have not, been individually and separately evolved 
in actual life on the lower planes. It does not, 
however, seem so very improbable, when we bear 
in mind that all soul-power is to be evolved 
through exercise in a body. Nor could we prove 
that each animal-soul had not first to be reflected 
as a rudimentary idea in the form of vegetation, 
before it could become well enough defined to 
demonstrate itself in the world of the more active 
moving creatures. As all soul-power is immortal 
and must ever be more or less active, how would 
the plant and animal-souls otherwise find their 
opportunity for evolution ? We cannot suppose 
that they are doomed forever to remain on their 
present plane. This would not be in accord with 
the Spirit's character of progressiveness, nor 
would it be just. When, for instance, a dog 
proves by its individual valor to be an important 
factor in our lives, perhaps even sacrificing its 
own body in order to save ours, we could not in 
justice remain content with the thought that the 
soul of this friend is doomed to remain forever in 
its limited sphere, while we, on the contrary, are 
permitted to rise beyond ours. All forces are 
constantly employed in the interest of evolution, 
and, in the economy of the World, none is allowed 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 65 

to remain forever idle or latent. Thus it seems 
quite probable that each individual soul must 
travel through all these planes of existence; that 
the propensities which move the plants and 
animals are favored with the same destiny as are 
those within the human. The soul which lives in 
the animal certainly is worthy of uniting with 
others to inhabit a human body ; for, as we have 
seen, there is to be found clearly represented the 
facsimile of each within the human soul. We 
know, that, in reality, the animal-soul is not 
beneath us, but within us, the same as the word 
stands within the sentence. What should we be, 
for instance, without the noble dog-soul with its 
qualities of friendship, faithfulness, and rever- 
ence? On the other hand, has not many a person 
a greater share of destructiveness than even the 
tiger ? and are not the traits of the pig, the pea- 
cock, and the cow, each the master of a host of 
human souls ? At all events, when we consider 
how many evidences there are which encourage 
our conclusion, and that we can find none that 
proves the same to be wrong, we cannot be far 
misled when we actually assume that the soul 
which lives in our body has once inhabited a num- 
ber of animal-bodies, and that the animals of the 
present day are destined at some time in the dis- 



1 66 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

tant future to unite their forces for demonstration 
on the human plane. 

The propensities which constitute the desires 
pertaining to the preservation of self, determine 
by the degree of their evolution the sphere of the 
soul's activity : they confine the plant to the spot 
and the animal to its species. On the human 
plane they are in position to alter their mode of 
activity : instead of restricting themselves to the 
narrow sphere of the individual, they may now 
become the powerful propellers of the soul on its 
way outward into the great beyond as a conscious, 
individual being; they become what we may call 
"spiritual energy." The impulse which, on the 
lower plane, knows only destruction, is elevated 
on the higher plane into its very opposite, into 
creative force ; the desire for acquisition of mate- 
rial things evolves into love for the attainment of 
knowledge; the power of reproduction, raised out 
of the lower plane into the service of the higher 
faculties, proceeds, true to its nature, to move us 
and to help us to bring forth "children of the 
Spirit," ideas. Thus, each finds its appropriate 
kind of service on all planes of life ; but, as we 
see, the sphere of their activity always remains 
the Earth. 

Let us now follow the course of one of those 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 67 

souls which have risen out above the human plane. 
We may certainly learn something of the nature of 
the higher sphere through studying the character 
of those who went to live in it. Although we 
may have never come into personal contact with 
any of these beings, we are well acquainted with 
their personality through the history of mankind. 
We know them by the greatness of the light which 
their last Earth-life continues to radiate into the 
lives of the multitude from generation to genera- 
tion ; and so these men stand before our mind's 
eye as plainly visible as though we had personally 
communicated with them from the days of our 
childhood. To be sure, they are our real personal 
friends, and as such they enable us step by step to 
come into a clearer understanding, both of their 
personality and their world. 

To begin, we will observe how one of these 
souls expresses itself in the features of its body : 
as we proceed to study the face of the man, the 
first which preeminently forces itself upon our 
notice, is the apparent absence of all traces of the 
animal-soul. Neither here, nor in the form of his 
head, is there to be found a single line that might 
suggest an animal-trait ; nor is there any such to 
be detected in his general bearing. We see at 
once that this is not the body of the ordinary 



1 68 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

animal-man ; we find it to be the exclusive medium 
of the higher thought, the spiritual. The expres- 
sion of this man shows us that in the course of his 
evolution the powers of every one of the animal- 
propensities has become completely absorbed by 
the higher faculties. Is the expression a happy 
one ? It is serene ; it calls forth the inference that 
the soul within does not derive its pleasures from 
the limited sphere of the perishable, the personal, 
but has expanded beyond the same. There is not 
a mark of hardness to be found in any of the feat- 
ures ; they are tender, yet strong throughout ; they 
show that, personally, he feels himself in harmony, 
both with his fate and his Creator. In short, he 
appears what he is : all love for that which brings 
true well-being, and compassion for all who are 
not yet in possession of it. No other feeling can 
find any room within him beside these two ; he 
can hate nothing that the Universe might contain. 
However, he is not yet exempt from human suf- 
fering ; for, so long as his soul is bound to a human 
body, it must feel the influences to which this 
body is subjected. But we see that he has the 
power to patiently endure anything that may befall 
him. All these happy qualities are the fruits of 
long and persistent personal effort. This superior 
strength and harmony of feeling has come forth 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 69 

as a result of the course of training which is des- 
tined to be experienced by every soul. He has 
made himself acquainted with the nature of all the 
faculties through personal activity, and has felt 
their effect upon' himself and others in every 
sphere of life through which he has passed. Dur- 
ing his career through the various lives he has had 
abundant opportunity of perceiving that gratifica- 
tions at the expense of fellow-beings invariably 
turned out in the end to be altogether at his own ; 
for he has eventually been forced to pay every such 
debt that he had contracted. Then he has grad- 
ually become aware that there is, in fact, no earthly 
pleasure unaccompanied by its equivalent of pain. 
Each such experience has made its impression 
within his soul and has remained there in the 
form of intuitional knowledge, prompting him in 
each successive life to reduce his wants. Having 
become thoroughly acquainted with the nature of 
personal enjoyment, the soul has begun a search 
for sensations of a higher kind : He has reached 
out more and more into the realms of spiritual 
knowledge. He finds this more gratifying as he 
begins to perceive its power of showing the way 
to personal independence. 

While he was living on the material plane, he 
found that the same gratification may be enjoyed 



I70 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

in either of two ways : by taking, or by giving. 
He has, already at that period, felt how these 
differ in the feeling which they produce. He has 
practised them both, and now, as he rises into the 
higher knowledge, he also clearly perceives why 
the one is preferable to the other. While he 
gratified himself merely, he was feeding the lower, 
the selfish propensities; there was then percep- 
tible no voice of approval other than that of the 
lower self, the personality. In being thus nur- 
tured, these desires were encouraged to increase ; 
each succeeding time they clamored for more, 
thus causing a growing painful discord within. 
Gratifying them meant the creation of a like dis- 
cordant condition between himself and the sur- 
roundings. So he found himself subjected to 
painful assaults, both from within and without. 
In the adoption of the reverse course he naturally 
experienced an effect directly the opposite : he 
found, that, each time he gratified the desires of 
others voluntarily and at his own expense, he 
gave rise to a certain harmonious condition, not 
only between himself and others, but likewise 
within his inner self. He had succeeded in silenc- 
ing the lower self by means of the higher. The 
voice of approval which he then perceived, was 
that of the Universal Spirit itself ; for he had 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 171 

harmonized his will with that of the Spirit, whose 
occupation consists in nothing else but the bring- 
ing forth of harmony. The more he then fol- 
lowed this mode of action, the more his higher 
faculties unfolded, at the expense of the lower, 
until they finally became powerful enough to press 
these into their service altogether. The same 
faculties which he has thus encouraged to grow, 
are now the mediums through which he gathers 
the higher knowledge and brings himself into 
conscious communication with the Creator. 

Now, however, he makes the same discovery 
with regard to his gratifications in the sphere of 
knowledge which he made in respect to those on 
the material plane : he finds that gathering knowl- 
edge is, like any other kind of enjoyment, pleas- 
urable for the time being only. He still has to 
keep in subjection a personality, and this, being 
now employed in the acquisition of that which is 
obtainable in the higher sphere, accordingly accus- 
toms itself also to the higher kind of gratifica- 
tion : it wants more and more ; and thus he would 
be in danger of once more finding himself alone 
and in the misery of the world of the self, if the 
higher, the moral, faculties did not still continue 
to prevail and accordingly impress upon him the 
command that the knowledge which they gather 



172 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

from the Universe is to be used in the interest of 
none other than the Universal Spirit ; in short, 
he feels that the true pleasure of knowledge does 
not lie in the personal possession, but comes with 
the act of imparting the same to others. Thus, 
from being a benefactor to his fellow-men on the 
material plane, he now gradually rises into the 
power to benefit them spiritually. Having him- 
self once been in the condition in which they are 
now, and remembering the path which led him 
out into a state of greater freedom and serenity, 
he proceeds to help them forward in the same 
manner as his guides have so far been aiding him. 
Now, we are aware that the imparting of knowl- 
edge has, in one respect, an effect just the reverse 
from that accompanying the bestowal of material 
favors : the individual grows richer in that which 
he gives. While he teaches his fellow-men, he 
becomes more firmly established in the world of 
knowledge himself; for his occupation leads him 
into a better understanding of mankind generally, 
and therewith also of his own being : His intui- 
tive knowledge, through frequent employment 
growing brighter, now shows him the true nature 
of their state by reminding him of that of his 
own personality in former lives. He now becomes 
convinced of the truth that even the worst of 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 73 

characters cannot be bad through any other pref- 
erence than such as arises from an extreme igno- 
rance of their true position in the World. Thus 
he has risen beyond all tendencies of hating a 
fellow-creature. As he continues his occupation 
in the interest of the Universal Spirit, it is natu- 
ral that he should also grow more and more into 
the latter's confidence ; he acquires a more com- 
prehensive understanding of the general plan of 
the Universe, because he has proven himself 
worthy of taking a more important part in its 
affairs. Thus he is led, not alone to perceive, but 
also to feel, the great truth that all creatures are 
forever bound in one universal brotherhood under 
the care of one Father, and that the ultimate des- 
tiny of all is a happy one ; his faith in the Cre- 
ator, the self, and the fellow-men becomes firmly 
established. Understanding the condition of 
those who are still in the dark, his soul now goes 
out to them in brotherly sympathy ; he does not, 
however, love them as they are, any more than he 
would love his own former self ; he loves them as, 
according to his knowledge, they are intended to 
become; and this is the feeling which prompts 
his greater efforts in their behalf. He sees how 
they are destined to wind themselves through the 
world of errors and suffering that still lies before 



174 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

them ; he remembers the many pains which he 
himself endured, and now he endeavors to shorten 
the way for his fellow-men by giving them the 
benefit of his own experience, describing to them 
what he sees from his higher point of view, and 
inspiring them with good-cheer and courage. 
And he perceives that his efforts are not in vain. 
Wherever the good effect does not immediately 
come forth, he knows that the spiritual seed which 
he is sowing is not therefore to be considered 
lost ; he understands the law by which a plant 
requires for its appearance a certain time. He 
knows also that, in the realms of the Spirit, 
all that which does not fall upon good ground 
must ever return to the sower ; for he feels, that, 
whether his efforts are successful or not, they 
must invariably cause growth of power within 
himself. Thus his soul widens out more and 
more beyond the interests of his personality, 
making for itself a home in many hearts. 

By virtue of this higher activity his power of 
thought and feeling is raised so far above the 
self, that, where formerly he was independent of 
material pleasure only, he now, from the very self- 
lessness of his nature, becomes indifferent also to 
personal pain. The subject upon which he has 
concentrated his whole attention, demands the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 75 

sacrifice of all kinds of personal feeling and bod- 
ily well-being ; but, at the same time, it gives him 
also the power and the gladness of submission ; for 
it is a higher form of life, an existence free of 
earthly discord, which he now sees lying before 
himself and his fellow-men. 

A general view of our observations with regard 
to the character and life of this man tells us, in 
short, that he has guided himself by the truth that 
neither pain nor pleasure is contained in the 
object in which the soul is centered, but in the 
soul itself. Having perceived that pleasure con- 
sists in nothing else than harmony of soul- 
vibration, he has naturally made the refinement of 
such harmony the one great object of his life ; his 
higher faculties have made their growth identical 
with this refinement. From the coarsest, the 
physical harmony, he has proceeded to evolve the 
finer, the harmony of the soul itself, which be- 
comes manifest in the form of noble character. 
This he now radiates into the souls of his fellow- 
men as spiritual life-vibration : he gives them of 
his higher life. The vibrations of the soul always 
know their source, and so does the soul know them 
wherever they may go ; for the soul is independent 
of Space. Thus the pleasure which he gives, the 
same does he also feel ; and gradually this higher 



I76 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

harmony so fills his soul that the personal inter- 
ests dwindle away from his consideration, and at 
length become mere means to the one great end : 
the evolution of a harmony which is universal. 
With this vision before him, he gladly permits his 
person to serve as the necessary object for sacri- 
fice. 

We observe that in this work in the interest of 
the Spirit he not only grows in the power to 
receive impressions, but likewise increases his own 
vibrative force ; knowledge and power come with 
desire and practice. His manner of life not only 
brings forth and develops this mediumship, but 
also places the same in his own control. Hav- 
ing first evolved his selfless character and raised 
the same above all material interests, the gift of 
prophecy and the various other psychic powers 
now unfold within him as naturally, self-evidently, 
and beautifully as the flower comes forth on the 
plant, unaided by artificial means. His higher 
work has made the possession of the higher powers 
a simple necessity, and so these are given him to 
wield in accordance with the higher law : his com- 
passion for the suffering body of his neighbor has 
procured for his soul the power to heal the same ; 
his desire for the welfare of other souls has evolved 
within him the power of seeing their path and 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 77 

guiding them by his will. In using these greater 
powers solely for the good of his fellow-creatures, 
he not only remains exempt from the injuries 
which would result from a selfish use, but his 
power over soul and substance is bound to con- 
stantly increase and eventually to make him the 
independent master. Formerly, he was dependent 
upon the Earth-plane, now this becomes subject to 
his will ; and the achievement of this greatness of 
soul was made possible to him through nothing 
else than through the evolution of his desire for 
the preservation of self into the desire for the 
preservation of all. He no more needs a human 
body. He needs not its pleasures and is not 
moved by its pains. Nor does the fulfillment of 
his aspirations require him to maintain a visible 
personality ; for he exerts his powers, not for the 
sake of showing his greatness and gaining approval, 
but purely from love of the good work itself. 

When, eventually, he has risen out, there is, so 
far as his personality is concerned, nothing that 
might attract him ever to return to the Earth- 
plane in the form of a human being. Having 
gained the power over the world of earthly sub- 
stance, his soul now forms, by its own refined 
vibrative force, a body of such subtility that 
through it he is enabled to expand over all the 



I78 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

Earth and to penetrate into the souls of men, there 
to make himself felt, by virtue of his elevating 
influence, as Divine inspiration. Wherever there 
are souls which have evolved so far as to be sus- 
ceptible to this higher influence, there will he be 
present and make his presence felt. He is not 
merely an active power, but also a conscious wit- 
ness of his own influence ; his efforts in the interest 
of harmony have resulted in a higher form of con- 
sciousness within himself. He continues, true to 
his nature, to elevate the souls which are still con- 
fined in human form. He helps those who are the 
nearest to him and who can understand him, so 
that these, in turn, may use this power for elevat- 
ing those who are still further in the dark. He 
breathes harmony and he feels the life of it. His 
existence is serene beyond human conception. 
We may form a vague idea of its nature and 
superiority, when we consider the moments of 
highest inspiration that come to the soul of man, 
and when we then bear in mind that the body of 
this great soul admits of a quality of vibration, 
or conscious feeling, which is inconceivably finer 
and greater than that which is attainable through 
any human brain. 

As we have seen, the Spirit creates the Uni- 
verse with all its living creatures solely for 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 79 

the purpose of demonstrating through these its 
own being unto itself. Each creature is a living 
reflector, according to the degree of its evolution, 
and each is destined to rise forever higher in the 
conscious understanding of the World. When 
we consider that the Universe which our minds 
are to reflect, must ever appear to us as being 
infinite, and when we also consider how little of 
its life it is possible for us to know in our present 
form, and how happy we sometimes feel with that 
little, — how glorious must be that which is yet 
to come ! 



CHAPTER XIX. 

OUR RELATION TO THE WORLD OF THE DISEM- 
BODIED AND TO ONE ANOTHER. 

Now, we are aware that many beings have risen 
into this higher sphere and are constantly perme- 
ating the souls of men with their elevating influ- 
ence, helping these to rise into their higher life. 
We know also that at certain periods a whole 
community sinks back toward a state of spiritual 
stupor, once more to become enslaved by the animal 
propensities. The higher beings then find it 
necessary to demonstrate their presence and their 
power to the physical senses. To this end one 
of them again takes upon himself the burden of 
human life. He descends into the midst of men 
as a Saviour. As such he proves to them his 
power, his authority, over all that is human ; he 
demonstrates to their physical eyes and ears the 
superiority of the higher law over the will of man, 
then he teaches them the first essentials for rising 
into this higher power, so that this knowledge 
may again become the light of many generations. 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. l8l 

He appears to us as the Son of the great Father 
in Heaven. This circumstance draws our atten- 
tion to the truth that the souls of the higher 
sphere virtually form one soul ; and we understand 
that it is the singleness of their motive which so 
perfectly unites them. Each finding its happi- 
ness solely in the Universal harmony, there is no 
discordant influence possible from the voices of 
their self ; for there are none such coming forth. 
Thus it is self-evident that these souls form a 
perfect harmony also amongst one another, and if 
one of them takes upon itself an individual exist- 
ence, it will be only as the representative of all 
in the accomplishment of their one great object, 
the evolution of mankind. We may take for 
granted that not only our Earth is blessed in this 
manner, but that every heavenly sphere which 
evolves living beings, likewise evolves such great 
souls, such Saviours of life, which from time to 
time descend to the material plane, so that the 
erring and suffering community may once more 
be set aright. 

While the heavenly beings which dwell in the 
sphere of our Earth have the power of life to 
take upon themselves the burden of human suf- 
ferings voluntarily, and are impelled to descend 
to man by their desire of helping him, we find 



1 82 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

that from the opposite direction there come those 
which personate the various forms of evil ; which 
must suffer the pains of discord, because they 
have not yet evolved the power of harmony ; and 
which have not the command over their own 
motions, but are drawn toward our plane by their 
personal desire of gratifying themselves. Let us 
look also into our relation to these : 

We have seen that every force in the Universe 
must constantly alternate between two condi- 
tions, its activity being either exterior or interior. 
While it is in the former state, we perceive its 
action by means of our physical senses ; in the 
latter condition it is recognizable by those only of 
the soul, or mind. When a force is thus "invis- 
ible," we may know that it is latent. This, of 
course, applies not alone to the unorganized force, 
but likewise to the organized, namely, the soul. 
We have seen that when a soul becomes disem- 
bodied, it nevertheless remains intact as a part of 
the Universal power. It is then latent, awaiting 
a favorable condition for again coming forth, and, 
like any other force, it will either reappear as an 
individual within a physical body, or become more 
or less distinctly visible alone to the eye of the 
soul, according to the degree in which other 
forces cooperate or counteract. 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 83 

We observe that during its life in a human 
body there is hardly ever a moment in which 
some one or more of the soul's faculties are not 
latent, being at the time hindered from coming 
forth by the greater activity of the others. We 
have seen also that during times when animation 
is suspended, almost the entire soul may disap- 
pear from view. Now, when we see the soul 
become latent at its regular intervals of sleep, we 
are thereby shown, that, even while the body is 
strong and healthy, a periodic rest is as indispens- 
able to the constitution of the soul as it is to that 
of the body ; for, the body, being formed and 
governed entirely by soul-power, can not become 
inefficient, even temporarily, from any other cause 
than the counteraction of the soul's activity by 
surrounding forces. When the soul can be thus 
deprived of its medium for the third or fourth 
part of each day, notwithstanding the fact that 
the power to maintain the usual health and vigor 
of the body is still efficient, how much longer 
must be the time of the soul's latency when the 
body is finally removed from its control alto- 
gether ! Evidently, that part of the soul which 
is the direct supporter of the body, needs a far 
longer period of rest at the close of a life-time 
than at the end of a day. 



1 84 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

Those evil influences which come to radiate 
their discord into the souls of men, and which 
are so dangerous because imperceptible to the 
physical senses, are souls that have once been the 
possessors of physical bodies, and are, for the 
time being, bound in a state of latency. They are 
human souls which have not yet risen into power 
over the animal propensities. The conditions 
which surrounded their earth-lives have been such 
that the moral sense of these souls could not prop- 
erly unfold ; and in proportion as the lower self 
and the intellect have been encouraged, are these 
souls strong in their desire for self-assertion in the 
form of discord. Although such a soul is hindered 
from forming a body perceptible to the physical 
senses, it is nevertheless capable of active dem- 
onstration wherever it can find favorable soul- 
conditions. The only plane on which it can grat- 
ify its desires is, of course, the human, because it 
has itself once been a human ; and from our sphere 
the call must come : Wherever in a human being 
the selfish propensities are strong, there the evil 
soul meets with conditions which allow it to come 
forth and to assert itself ; for there will be present 
a soul of like nature; and the same law of affinity 
by which the happy influence of the higher soul 
enters the man of noble character, enables also the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 85 

disembodied evil soul to enter the body of the 
undeveloped, the selfish man, filling him with its 
discord and prompting him to give expression to 
the same in his life. Thus the evil soul continues 
to demonstrate itself through the medium of other 
bodies, to suffer and to cause suffering in this 
manner, until conditions shall allow it to appear 
once more in a body of its own for another course 
of training as an individual man. 

Between these two, the Divine soul and the 
evil, is to be found the multitude of disembodied 
human souls, each of them bound in a state of 
latency, until a call arises for its reappearance. 
There being, of course, as great a variety of dis- 
embodied souls as there is of human beings, it is 
plain that there is not one person who is not con- 
tinually subjected to the influences coming from 
this world of the unseen. According to the nature 
and the power of his thought will he unconsciously 
attract to himself the corresponding kind of souls. 
The same law of thought-transference by which 
the soul-vibrations may travel from one human- 
being to another, renders possible also a communi- 
cation between man and the disembodied soul ; for, 
in both cases there is the same kind of harmonious 
vibrations which cannot help but unite in such a 
manner that each soul must receive those sent out 



1 86 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

by the other. Thus we may know that each of us 
is, to a greater or smaller degree, mecliumistic. 

Disembodied souls may, under favorable con- 
ditions, even make themselves apparent to our 
physical senses. However wonderful this may 
seem to us, still, we cannot dispute the fact that 
such occurrences actually take place, often when 
they are least expected. And why should they 
not ? We have abundant evidence, that one per- 
son can suddenly appear to another, notwithstand- 
ing the space that separates the physical bodies. 
This is done by many souls at the moment of their 
passing out. It is evident that in such an event 
the dying body itself cannot possibly have any 
part. The soul alone is the actor. All that is 
required for the feat is the power of vibration, the 
motive, and the will. That the soul retains its 
power quite independently of the life of its body, 
is a truth which we can certainly no longer doubt. 
Although counteracting forces hinder the soul for 
awhile from appearing to us as a person, it may in 
the meantime still exert its vibrative force in other 
ways ; for, as we know, the whole World is in 
reality nothing else than an infinite variety of 
vibrations. We are therefore perfectly justified 
in assuming that many of those mysterious phys- 
ical phenomena which sometimes force themselves 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 87 

upon our notice and which are perfectly inexpli- 
cable, so far as our present knowledge of Nature's 
laws can reach, actually have their source in the 
realms of the disembodied. 

We observe also that the faculty of communi- 
cating with the disembodied may be developed, so 
to speak, artificially. However, when we look 
more closely into the nature of the process re- 
quired and into the consequences which may 
follow, we become aware that this mode of devel- 
opment is as injurious as it is wrong ; for the 
Law is always just. While observing the medi- 
umistic qualities of the animal, we noticed that 
these have their source in the circumstance that 
the animal-mind is not filled with independent 
thought-forms of a brightness sufficient to obscure 
that which reflects itself upon the soul direct. 
The artificial development of mediumship in the 
human being implies the reestablishment of this 
same condition : the mind is to be rendered pas- 
sive ; it is to be freed from thought-forms, so that 
the invisible may enter and make their impres- 
sions felt. Now, we are aware that man has his 
power of thought for a well-defined purpose : 
his intellect is to serve him in the capacity of a 
"look-out." It must take note of all that hap- 
pens within and without ; it must see far ahead 



1 88 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

and all around, study facts and events, cause and 
effect; it must analyze and combine, and record 
the results for his immediate use in the work of 
directing his course through life. The multitude 
and greatness of the dangers that surround the 
human being necessitate the constant presence of 
the power of reason, so that no enemy may come 
near unperceived and find the man unguarded. 
This being true with respect to his exterior life, 
how much more must this truth apply to the life 
of the soul ! We have seen that man's material 
existence has no other purpose than the evolution 
of his higher faculties. The intellect, therefore, 
must ever remain the indispensable servant of 
these. By its help they are enabled to detect all 
the evil influences that may come to them from 
anywhere in the material World or in the World 
of the invisible, and thus, when necessary, to pre- 
vent even a contact with them. Every human 
being has within him a certain portion of animal 
propensity, and is therefore in some degree ex- 
posed to these influences. In order to rise out of 
the danger of attracting them, he is compelled to 
completely eliminate his lower self ; and this can 
be done only through a constant exercise of his 
intellectual and moral powers. We have seen 
that this is the kind of exercise through which 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 89 

the higher souls have made themselves worthy 
of becoming the representatives of the higher 
thought, and thus we are led to the conclusion 
that it is also the only medium through which we 
may attract the wholesome influences. 

The character of the ordinary disembodied 
souls is, like that of any imperfect human, full of 
error caused by the influence of the lower self. 
These souls are therefore the ones which are 
most strongly attracted to that person who has 
removed from his own lower self the watchful and 
restraining power of thought. The conditions 
for the active demonstration of an imperfect soul 
are in such a case most favorable. The propensi- 
ties of the person combine with those of the vis- 
itor and are thus, in the absence of the reasoning 
power, in position to play great havoc with all the 
treasures of the soul that are within their reach ; 
and they do this. Not only will the feelings per- 
taining to the self receive encouragement in both 
parties, but neither one of these will be able to 
correctly perceive the other ; the visitor will, 
either consciously or unconsciously, delude the 
person who attracted him ; for the eye of the self 
can see only in accordance with its individual 
nature, and this, we know, is never the same in 
any two persons, and never faultless in any one. 



I9O A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

The truth will thus ever appear distorted ; it 
will every time reflect itself in the mind of the 
observer in the nature of error. As in every-day 
life the appearance of persons to each other 
always conforms itself to the nature of the per- 
sonal desires prompting each, so may also the 
disembodied soul which comes to gratify a per- 
sonal want, conceal itself behind a character which 
it assumes. The personal preferences may induce 
the medium, unconsciously to itself, not alone to 
mistake the identity of its visitor, but likewise to 
misunderstand the communication received. And 
in every case we do find this latter tinged with 
the personal character of the medium, as the 
reflection of a picture must conform itself to the 
nature of the reflector. We can easily perceive 
that such imperfectly understood communications, 
commands, or informations must always, even if 
they are of a higher character, cause more or less 
of mischief to all concerned. On the other hand, 
it is plain that every communication which results 
in any kind of personal advantage to either the 
human beings or the disembodied souls, must, at 
some time during the process of evolution, be 
paid for by whomever such advantage has been 
received by. For, through every material success 
the human soul gets somewhat of encouragement 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 191 

in its love for that which is material. Thus each 
earthly enjoyment adds its mite to the weight 
which hinders man from rising out of the human 
plane; and yet, as we have seen, at some future 
time he must let go. He who is rich, powerful 
in worldly matters, and favored with all kinds of 
human affection in this life, will surely in some 
future one find himself deprived of all ; for man 
must sometime get a chance to look beyond the 
human life, and he cannot do this while his vision 
is obstructed by the dense mist of the pleasures 
belonging to the ordinary human sphere. 

The evil consequences resulting from an artifi- 
cial development of mediumship are, of course, 
most severe upon the medium itself. For, each 
time a person offers himself in this manner to pro- 
miscuous influences of earth-bound souls, he loses 
a part of his control not alone over his body, but 
also over his mind. By repeated voluntary absti- 
nence from the use of his reasoning powers he 
gradually loses his former facility to command 
them. We see that the medium of the hypnotizer 
unconsciously becomes subject to the desires of 
the latter in such degree as to lose its power of 
freeing itself from them even in its normal state. 
So does this medium of the disembodied souls, 
each time it places its powers in their service, 



I92 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

encourage the visitors to monopolize them to a 
greater extent than they did the last time ; and so, 
eventually, in the absence of the power of intel- 
lectual guidance, the whole person becomes the 
obedient tool of these earth-bound souls, at any 
time ready to exchange its own identity for theirs. 
Thus the medium retards the evolution of its own 
individual character. It loses more and more also 
its power of discrimination in respect to the char- 
acter of its visitors. Those of the lower order, in 
accordance with their selfish nature, gradually 
make themselves the most prominent ; and, in 
consequence, this medium becomes exposed to all 
kinds of error, great and small, — a soul dependent 
for its gratifications upon its fellow-beings in the 
realms of darkness. 

All our observations show us that human medi- 
umship is designed to evolve alone through nobil- 
ity of life. Selfless thought attracts the selfless 
soul, and is at the same time the best guard against 
the influences of the opposite kind. Until we 
have evolved a character of great power and good- 
ness, neither are we capable of drawing toward 
ourselves and consciously communicating with the 
higher soul, nor are we safe from the harmful 
influence of the lower. But, so surely as the arti- 
ficial development brings forth the hurtful kind of 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. I93 

mediumship, does the natural, through the evolu- 
tion of a noble character, develop in us the bene- 
ficial kind, which must appear in its perfection so 
soon as our character proves itself capable of 
wielding the higher powers in accordance with the 
demand of the higher law, which is selflessness. 

Meantime, though we may not be clearly con- 
scious of the fact, our communication with the 
realm of the disembodied quietly and mysteriously 
takes its course, in obedience to the dictates of 
the law of affinity, working good and harm on 
either side, according to the nature of our thought. 
When we contemplate the fact that this mysteri- 
ous realm, though hidden to the senses of the 
ordinary mortal, is nevertheless so near to each of 
us that our souls inhale its very atmosphere, — 
how awe-inspiring is the nature of this world of 
the invisible ! and, at the same time, how comfort- 
ing to us human beings is the knowledge, that 
therein are present also the souls of all those with 
whom we are bound by the ties of love and friend- 
ship ! These friendly souls can, if we will, come 
even closer to us in their present state than was 
possible to them while they were still in physical 
bodies of their own. As our friends and loved 
ones who are still in this life feel all the vibrations 
of kindness that we send out to them, so do also 



194 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

those who have passed out, and likewise do we 
receive theirs. In accordance with the nature of 
this kindness will our influence be either elevating 
or depressing : while painful longing invariably 
brings sorrow also to the objects of our affection, 
our thoughts of selfless kindness inspire them with 
feelings of good cheer. 

Among the multitude of human beings and dis- 
embodied souls with which a person is connected 
there certainly is, in every instance, one with whom 
his nature is more perfectly in harmony than with 
any of the others : each of us has one particular 
friend. Now, we see that the strongest kind of 
human affinity requires that the individuals be of 
opposite sex : the one must be of masculine nature ; 
the other, feminine, — the former excelling in 
power to impress ; the latter, in facility for recep- 
tion. Let us understand more perfectly the nature 
of this closest of relationships. 

When we look into the principles of harmony 
from which the Spirit evolves the World, we find 
that these two elements are already present at the 
very foundation : we see that they find their orig- 
inal expression in the relation between Motion and 
Substance. The masculine, being the force of 
impressing, is represented by the power of Motion, 
vibration ; the feminine, in its character of recep- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 95 

tivity, is expressed in the vibrating Substance. 
They are thus originally one, — neither being pos- 
sible of appearance without the other. The one is 
the life ; the other, that which lives. There can 
be no surplus of either. Taking a general view of 
the world of Motion and Substance, we observe 
that this presents the appearance of a multitude of 
equally proportioned elements in a state of con- 
stant fluctuation from one side of their equilibrium 
to the other. As we follow them in their course 
of evolution, we find that the power of motion, 
as it assumes its higher form, namely, that of 
organized life, brings forth a more pronounced 
division also between these two elements, the 
power of impression and the facility for reception. 
Already on the vegetable plane, we see these 
appearing in separate, individual forms, as male 
and female. In the animal-world this separation 
becomes still more clearly defined ; while, lastly, 
on the human plane it assumes its most pro- 
nounced degree, appearing perfect, not only phys- 
ically, but likewise with respect to the character 
of the souls : the masculine nature becomes clearly 
defined in its preference for independent thought 
and deed ; that of the feminine, in its character 
of susceptibility, power of feeling. However, as 
we follow these souls in their further evolution, 



I96 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

as from generation to generation the human soci- 
ety rises in degree of culture, we find that the 
masculine soul gradually increases in power of 
feeling, while the feminine becomes more and 
more independently active and thoughtful. This 
slow but sure return of the two elements toward 
their original equilibrium is an essential prelim- 
inary to their rising into the higher plane of life : 
while the power of feeling is required for impell- 
ing the soul to expand beyond the self into the 
lives of the fellow-creatures, thought is the power 
through which this feeling is elevated above the 
plane of matter. In the higher sphere the single- 
ness of their selfless motive then enables the 
individuals of the two sexes to closely unite with 
one another and thus to form one perfect soul, 
never again to part. This truth is clearly illus- 
trated to us by the character of the Saviour, who 
comes to us as the personification of the highest 
form of thought permeated with the purest love. 

We have seen that a surplus of any one of 
these elements which form the Universe is impos- 
sible. We are also aware that the evolution of 
each of them must take its course in the form of 
a separate individual, whose identity can never be 
lost. As these two elements, then, are destined 
ultimately to return to their original union ; as 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. I97 

they have taken the form of separate souls ; and 
as, on our plane, each soul, by reason of its differ- 
ence from every other soul, requires for this per- 
fect union an affinity distinguishable from every 
other, — we may conclude that the masculine and 
the feminine elements in the world of man equal 
one another with respect also to the number of 
individuals by which each is represented. A sur- 
plus of either element, being an impossibility at 
the very foundation of the World, must also 
remain such throughout Eternity. Thus we may 
infer that the various human souls do not exist 
singly, but in pairs, each of which consists of a 
masculine and a feminine from one and the same 
germ. Each such pair forms a like close affinity 
as every one of the others, and remains thus 
spiritually related throughout the course of its 
evolution. 

But now the great question arises within us, 
"Why is the individual so often hindered from 
forming with the companion of his soul a per- 
sonal acquaintance?" For this question, too, we 
may find an answer : One reason for such repeated 
separation lies in the fact that in this, as in all 
other matters, the all-pervading law of contrast 
rules. We know that this most intimate of com- 
panionships implies the highest form of happiness 



I98 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

possible to the human personality. This feeling, 
like all others, can be consciously perceived only 
after the soul has personally experienced the very 
opposite. Supposing we all were, from now on, 
favored with the blessing of this perfect compan- 
ionship uninterruptedly from life to life, — how 
could we possibly retain within ourselves a clear 
conception of the opposite state? In exact pro- 
portion as this would fade from our recollection, 
should we become oblivious also to the greatness 
of the happiness contained for us in this union 
with our dearest friend. 

There is another reason why the Spirit from 
time to time prevents the personalities of the 
counterparts from meeting : it is in the interest 
of their evolution into the higher life. We have 
seen that the evolution of the soul implies the 
evolution of its desire ; its love must expand 
beyond the sphere of the personality. Now, the 
love for our natural companion and for all that 
which comes forth from our personal relationship 
with the same, belongs altogether to our personal 
sphere ; it is natural to our personality, and there- 
fore the exercise of this kind of affection deserves 
no special credit ; it is of the nature of a recrea- 
tion, — a strictly personal enjoyment. We have 
seen, however, that the higher life demands a 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 1 99 

higher kind of love, — Divine love, a love that 
has for its object the good, not of our own self, 
but of our fellow-creatures. While we are tied 
with the bonds of personal love, it is not in our 
power to rise out and look upon all fellow-men 
with equal eye ; nor could we then demon- 
strate such impartiality of feeling by our conduct. 
And yet, this is the very power required of the 
greater soul. Therefore, so .that we may get the 
necessary chance for the selfless exercise of our 
affections, we are for certain periods removed 
from the possibility of bestowing them upon our 
friend. We are led to practise self-denial with 
respect to human love ; and we know that our 
power of feeling is not thereby killed, but, on the 
contrary, strengthened and elevated ; because it 
is caused to expand into the great beyond, bring- 
ing us ever nearer to the lives of our fellow-beings 
and at the same time also to those great souls 
who have gone before us. Thus the Spirit 
causes during one life-time a separation, so that 
the souls may be impelled to work ; in another, it 
brings them once more together, that they may 
enjoy the recreation which their constitutions call 
for. Each time they meet, their union is of a 
higher nature, until the time arrives when their 
affections no more need for their demonstration a 



200 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

human body ; for then the souls will have formed 
their final union for life in the great and beautiful 
world beyond the self. 

When we consider how the two, though origi- 
nating from the same germ, must leave each other 
and then pursue their course of unfoldment, 
each in "a separate body and in a separate sphere 
of action, meeting and parting in alternation ; 
when we perceive that they are notwithstanding 
destined eventually to form their final union as 
two souls equally worthy of each other's great- 
ness, — we understand why they must remain in 
constant intimate communication even when their 
personalities are strangers to each other : the pro- 
gress of the masculine and the feminine must be 
the same in both. Thus each unconsciously 
reflects its life upon the soul of the other, and 
in return receives a similar impression from its 
counterpart. By this means their development is 
equalized. And do we not often experience such 
peculiar sensations which have not their source in 
our sphere ? Do not, at certain times, when we 
are apparently alone, strange feelings creep into 
us that raise us into an unaccountable state of hap- 
piness ; and, again, do we not as often feel against 
our will depressed ? Searching for the cause, we 
find it not. Such feelings may then be but the 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 201 

reflections cast upon us out of the life-experiences, 
which our friend, who may be thousands of miles 
away, is at that very moment undergoing. Our 
intuition then prompts us to give the like con- 
sideration to these feelings that we bestow upon 
those arising from our own experiences : the 
elevating kind we turn into the corresponding 
actions; the opposite, we make use of as objects 
upon which to exercise our higher power, — we 
rise out of them into our wonted state of har- 
mony. Knowing that also our own conditions 
reflect themselves upon another soul, we find 
double cause for carefully considering their 
nature. With each effort that we make, in 
thought and deed, in the unfoldment of our moral 
powers, we unconsciously exert an elevating 
influence upon the partner of our destiny. 

Indeed, the more we learn of the nature of our 
lives, the more clearly do we perceive how impos- 
sible it would be for any one of us to work out his 
salvation independently of his fellow-beings. All 
our observations of the Universal life convince us 
that the entire World is but a multitude of close 
relationships. As not an atom can ever be re- 
moved from its intimate connection with its fel- 
lows, so not a soul can ever be alone. Go where 
we will, and do what we choose, — we cannot cease 



202 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

to give and to receive the influences corresponding 
to our nature. Though our personality at certain 
times seem ever so deserted : as intimately as its 
fate is interwoven with those of all its fellow- 
creatures, so inseparable is also our soul from its 
connection with the world of souls; or the Uni- 
verse would not continue. The all-powerful, all- 
wise, and ever-present Father, who forever main- 
tains intact the close relationship between the 
various elements which constitute the world of 
matter, will, in His goodness, likewise continue to 
provide for this intimate companionship among the 
souls which have received from Him their power 
to command this World and to employ the same 
according to His Law as the medium for their 
joint unfoldment. And beautiful indeed will be 
their evolution into that higher life, in which they 
all are destined to enjoy the like condition of 
serene content ! 

CLOSING REMARKS. 

We have, then, at last come to the end of our 
journey. It is not possible for us to go still fur- 
ther, — nor is it necessary; for the object of our 
wish has been accomplished. When we look back 
along the line of our path, and then into the view 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. ■ 203 

that opens out before our eyes from the point 
which we have reached, we perceive that kind 
Providence has led us through this world of mys- 
teries directly into those conceptions of the uni- 
versal life which were the objects of our search, 
and which we find to be so needful to the human 
soul as friendly guides through light and darkness. 
From having first been made acquainted with the 
ideal nature of the World, we have been led to 
sense the nature of its Spirit ; we have perceived 
the almighty power of harmony which insures the 
immortality and the progressiveness of all the 
souls of which the Universal life consists. Fol- 
lowing their line of evolution, we have then 
become aware of their relationship ; we have seen 
how on each successive higher plane the harmony 
within them and among them grows more compli- 
cated and more perfect, thus showing us how all 
the souls are forever bound in one close brother- 
hood in the care of one benevolent and ever-pres- 
sent Father. We have observed how Justice 
governs our fates and keeps them closely inter- 
woven, so that eventually they all may bring the 
like degree of happiness to the respective souls as 
these approach their final union in the higher life. 
Providence has led us to a point of view -from 
where we may no longer look upon the sufferings 



204 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

with which we are afflicted, as being utter dis- 
cords ; we know them to be merely dissonances 
required by the law of harmony for the right 
appreciation of the times of happiness which are 
to follow. Our human pleasures now appear to 
us as being but a compromise, allowing our unde- 
veloped soul a temporary rest, an opportunity for 
gathering-up its forces ; while, on the other hand, 
we look upon the hardships as coming to remind 
us of the effort necessary for our rising out into 
the pleasures of the higher sphere : we see in them 
the objects which the soul requires for the evolu- 
tion of the powers by means of which its noble 
destiny may be fulfilled. 

Indeed, we have obtained all those conceptions 
in which the human heart finds its encouragement 
to persevere. Are they the very Truth ? We 
must acknowledge that we shall never be entirely 
convinced by our human sense. There is one 
way only in which their nature can become appar- 
ent : " By their fruits we shall know them." It 
is a wise decree, that our convictions with regard 
to our destiny are not to grow beyond the stage 
of our individual unfoldment. If the human soul, 
which is still dominated by the interests pertain- 
ing to the self, could look beyond its present life, 
foreseeing with its own eye the personal experi- 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 205 

ences that are to follow in the next, its evolution 
into higher spheres would be impossible ; for all 
our thoughts and deeds would then invariably be 
weighted with considerations of a human nature, 
confining us forever to a life in human form. In 
order to rise out into that higher sphere in which 
the souls unite for perfect harmony and happi- 
ness, it is necessary that we be free in every way 
to cultivate the life that harmonizes with the 
nature of the Universal Spirit": seeking our pleas- 
ure in the welfare of all souls alike, loving and 
encouraging the good for its own sake only. It 
is, then, for this purpose that we are constrained 
to demonstrate to ourselves the truth of our con- 
ceptions by our individual effort : we come into 
the higher knowledge as we lead the correspond- 
ing life. Meanwhile the approving voice which 
makes itself perceptible within our soul as we 
proceed in this direction, is to be recognized both 
as a reward and as a guide : coming to us in the 
garb of highest pleasurable feeling directly from 
the Father, who is ever present and within us, it 
is the generator of our faith. The oftener we 
succeed in calling forth this voice and the more 
familiar we become with it, the better shall we 
understand the nature of its source, — the stronger 
and more beautiful will be the faith which we 



206 A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 

evolve ; and, again, according to our faith will be 
the nature of our life. 

This faith in the wisdom, the power, and the 
goodness of our Heavenly Father gives us a 
never-failing power of glad submission to all the 
hardships which an inevitable destiny compels 
each one of us to undergo ; no human knowledge 
can ever so inspire us to gracefully surmount all 
obstacles that lie in our path. And even to the 
last, when the end of our present term of life 
draws near ; when, as it may happen, Fortune 
turns away from us and we are left to end our 
days in loneliness and trouble, our Father will not 
then withdraw from our soul the comfort that we 
shall have earned through our close attention to 
his voice : then will our faith still gather-in the 
rays of sunshine coming from the higher World, 
and in their light we shall find the way through 
all the cheerless darkness of the moment to see 
the coming of the brighter time ! 

The more our life approaches in its nature the 
lives of those great souls who have gone before 
us, the stronger will this faith become : at first 
believing, we shall more and more become con- 
vinced ; while demonstrating our conceptions, we 
shall behold their truth, and, together with our 
knowledge of their truth, will come to us their 



A SPIRITUAL TOUR OF THE WORLD. 207 

power, that wonderful power of conviction which 
so permeates the soul with life and happiness, 
with love for its Creator and its fellow-beings, 
that the very force of its expression will raise the 
soul into the higher sphere. 

Our conceptions are to the eye of our soul 
what the rays of the Sun are to the eye of the 
body : they reveal to us both the existence and 
the nature of the source from which they come. 
All conceptions which generate within our soul a 
growth of harmony, leading us into a higher life, 
thereby prove to us that the sphere from which 
they emanate is the Harmony, the Life itself; 
and as we direct our course according to their 
guidance, our Father, who has sent them to us, 
will surely verify our faith by continuing in the 
fulfillment of His promise, that, freed from the 
gloomy world of self, we may truly enter the 
Kingdom of Heaven. 



THE END. 



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